


The Silence and the Storm

by Hetsez



Category: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (Video Games)
Genre: Action, Anal Sex, Art, Cats, Character Development, Christianity, Comfort, Conflicting Feelings, Confusion, Deep Thinking, Doc has anger issues too, Doc is an angry boi, Emotions, Enemies, Enemies to Friends, Engineering, Feels, Flirting, Fluff, Friendship, Happy Ending, Hereford Base, Hurt, Infection, Internal Conflict, Internal Feelings, It’s Complicated, Kissing, Lion has anger issues, Lion is a brat, Lion is cocky and smug, Loneliness, Lovers To Enemies, M/M, Medical issues, Music, Mutation, New Mexico, Operation Chimera, Ops tagged in order of appearance, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Alternating, Regret, Religion, Reunions, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, Smut, Some characters are only mentioned - Freeform, Swearing, The Zone, United Kingdom, Wholesomeness, Zombies, an attempt at some humour here and there, and Thatcher doesn’t take it, anger issues, arrogant Lion, but will he finally understand Lion?, cat lover, church, examinations, faith - Freeform, friends - Freeform, friends to partners, frustrations, handjobs, hostage extraction, injuries, mission, not all play a huge role in this fic tho, outbreak, past romantic relationship, really Lion is a good boi tho, relationship, some other ships if you squint, sorry the summary sucks, talks, tensions, the cat is a wingman I swear, thoughts, workshop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-24
Updated: 2019-06-26
Packaged: 2020-01-25 20:46:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 55,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18582289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hetsez/pseuds/Hetsez
Summary: Two men who swore to forget about each other, meet again in a dire situation. Feelings are still hostile, words still foul. But they’re colleagues now, and will need to learn to get along.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfiction was written for a trade with the awesome Sunstark! The base idea of this fic was hers, I put it on paper and added my own little twist to it. Her art has been a massive inspiration for this, so be sure to [check it out](https://www.instagram.com/cpt_sunstark/)! And I'd also like to give a huge thank-you to the wonderful Betti, my partner in crime, without whom this story would have been a lot less interesting. Her amazing works can be found on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/betti357_/media) and on [AO3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/betty2007/pseuds/betty2007). <3 
> 
> This was my first time writing this ship, and many of the characters in it. I enjoyed myself, and now I hope you’ll enjoy it too! c:

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lion's POV

With a sigh he stepped out of his tent and looked up at the sky, which was still very young. The sun was beginning to rise and even some birds that had not fled the area yet sang their songs. It was quiet, due to the camp being fairly empty for now, and that quiet could almost be mistaken for tranquillity and calmness. Yes, if one didn’t know what was going on in their surrounding area, outside of the protection their camp offered, this would’ve looked like a very peaceful morning indeed. 

But it wasn’t. They were at war. 

They were at war with God knew who, here in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. Strange events had begun to take place here, and the area had been evacuated. People were going down with strange sicknesses, and became violent in the process. Not as people rioting against their current helpless situation, but as beasts. They attacked each other, both the infected and the healthy people, and they even _resembled_ beasts. It was still unsure whether this was a terrorist threat, or something completely different, but they were confident to find out soon enough. 

Soon, when the reinforcements would arrive and they could get their research started properly. At the moment they were just doing some recon missions, to see and map out the Zone. But they hoped to start expeditions soon, missions which would eradicate the problem. Another day, another challenge. Lion was ready to get started and couldn’t wait to get his hands on their situation. He liked to focus on the task at hand, going from one challenge to the next. He did everything he could, performed to his very best abilities, only just so he wouldn’t remember. So he wouldn’t think about it. 

About his past life. 

His colleague Finka - who just appeared out of the tent next to his and gave him a small, tired smile - had helped him get here. When he had joined the CBRN unit of the GIGN to get away from it all, she had noticed his talents. They had worked together for a while before she got invited to the prestigious Team Rainbow Six, and she had recommended him. The timing couldn’t have been better as they were now on their first mission, which could be some kind of chemical threat. Their skills and knowledge would come in handy soon, and they advised the leader of the mission: Ash. 

The red-haired woman, both fiery and resolute, was overseeing the mission and communicated with the head of their unit back in England: Six. The three of them had sat around the table more than once over the last few days since Finka and Lion had arrived, discussing what they knew and didn't know. All in all, they had very little intel for now, and would have to wait for their back up to arrive from Hereford Base in order to get started. 

Some rustling along the path between the tents caught Lion’s attention, and he quickly quit his daydreaming. It was Ash herself walking towards them briskly, looking rather tired. Yet she was slightly out of breath and wore her work-out outfit as she had just been for a little morning run. The woman had too much on her plate, yet she remained remarkably calm under the circumstances. 

Finka and Lion greeted her, and waited for her to get closer. 

“Good to see you two. I just had a call from England. Our reinforcements have left and they’ll be here in several hours.” Ash told them once she stood in front of them, trying to catch her breath. The two soldiers in front of her nodded in understanding, and she continued: “I have only asked for a few of them for now. We need to discuss together in order to determine who we'll need here. We have to set up a team. So meet me in my tent when I send for you. I think it's vital you meet each other.” 

“Understood.” Finka nodded, and Lion just grunted in affirmation. 

Ash gave the both of them a nod before she walked on in the direction of her tent. The two CBRN operators watched her go. 

“I hope there we will be some Russians. Preferably from the Spetsnaz. They’re good guys.” Finka commented, smiling at whatever fond memory popped in her head. 

This remark sparked a sudden realisation in Lion. Who else would be in team Rainbow? He knew it was a team comprised of operators from many different CTUs, so it was highly likely the GIGN had some men in team Six as well. The question had crossed his mind a few times, but he waved it away every time. It couldn’t be. He wouldn’t be. Too much coincidence. “I hope there won't be any GIGN guys.” Lion grumbled in response. 

“Why not? Made yourself some enemies?” Finka snorted as Ash disappeared into her tent and she looked at the tall Frenchman next to her. 

Lion grimaced at the term ‘enemies’, but quickly covered it up by saying: “No, they’re just a bunch of idiots.” And that was all he had to say on the matter. Finka laughed heartily and patted his shoulder. 

“Don't worry, there are no idiots on Team Rainbow.” She said, and Lion could catch himself before he blurted out ‘I beg to differ'. Instead he gave the Russian woman a smile which he hoped looked convincing. Finka smiled back, but stared at him intently for a moment before she dropped it and asked: “Let's get some practise at the range before they arrive?” 

Lion grunted in agreement and retrieved his rifle from his tent. Anything to get his mind off it. Off him. Lion rubbed his face before he reappeared out of his tent to find Finka ready and waiting for him. Together they walked past the rows of tents towards the make-shift range, which was slightly too small. 

Not him. Don't let it be him. Let it be anyone but him. 

 

\-- 

The two CBRN operators spent most of the day training together. Some practise with their rifles, hand to hand combat, endurance training, anything the small camp provided until they had used all the equipment. They never spoke of the new arrivals anymore, and Lion was content with that. He was focused on their training again, and he almost forgot about his worries. 

Almost. 

That was, until a large helicopter flew over and not much later they were called to Ash’s tent. He and Finka finished their training and set off towards the meeting. The Russian woman kept wondering out loud if there’d finally be a ‘worthy opponent’ for her again, at which Lion rolled his eyes and scoffed. It was true, their combat styles were very different. Where Lion was organised and structured, Finka was like a whirlwind. They made an interesting pair. 

Lion tried not to think too much about who these reinforcements could be, but he was apprehensive. Still, what were the chances he was reunited with the man that had disgraced him, denounced him and abandoned him? Lion shook his head to clear the thoughts from his mind. It hadn’t been his mistake. 

The tent flaps were parted before them, and the two CBRN specialists entered. They simply stood in the entrance, watching the scene before them and waiting to be acknowledged. 

Ash was hunched over a table, talking fanatically and pointing at places on a map. Three men were watching and listening. They kept quiet and all stood with their backs towards Lion and Finka. Ash told them her worries, everything she had also discussed with the two new operators. Judging by the silence that came from the three men next to Ash, they probably understood very little of what she was saying, having only just arrived and already being submerged in the problems. 

Giving an exasperated sigh, Ash turned around only to find her two CBRN soldiers waiting at the entrance to her tent. Her tired face brightened up immediately, and she beckoned for them to come closer as she said enthusiastically: “Guys, I’d like to introduce you to our two specialists...” 

The three men turned around to face the newcomers. 

Finka took a step forward. 

Lion didn't. 

The tall Frenchman was frozen in place, staring at one of the men in front of them, still standing at Ash’s map table. One of them wore a balaclava, the other grinned gently at them, and the last one... 

It was a face Lion had tried so hard to forget, but it always returned in his dreams. 

“These are Lera “Finka” Melnikova and Olivier “Lion” Flament. Finka, Lion, meet Alexsandr “Tachanka” Senaviev, Jordan “Thermite” Trace and Gustave “Doc” Kateb.” Ash didn't seem to notice how the two Frenchmen glared at each other, nor the sudden negative air and electric atmosphere that hung between them. 

Finka went over to shake their hands while Lion remained where he was. He stood rooted to the ground. 

“So nice to meet all of you. We can't wait to get started.” Finka said, greeting the smiling man and shaking hands a few seconds too long with the Russian operator. The man beamed at her, although they couldn't see the rest of his face. His eyes shone when he talked to her. 

“It's good to have you.” He gave Lion behind her a nod, but the man wasn’t looking. Nor had the third man, the Frenchman, broken their eye contact, even as Finka shook his hand. 

Finka finally noticed. “Hey, you two seem to know each-" 

“I wasn’t aware Six ever made any bad choices.” The smaller Frenchman, Doc, interrupted her in a loud voice. Finka fell silent as she followed his gaze towards her partner. The atmosphere in the room now definitely felt tense as the other operators stared at the two Frenchmen. 

“Excuse me?” Ash said disbelievingly, not quite following what Doc meant. 

“Don't you see she already did?” Lion snarled, defending his honour. “Starting with you.” He pointed his index finger in Doc’s direction. 

If possible Doc's face turned even more sour while Lion gave him a smug smile. 

“Alright, I don't know what your problem is,” Ash said, sounding quite angry and stepping in between the two men, “but solve it, and solve it soon. We've got a situation here, and I need your cooperation. From _all_ of you.” She commanded, annoyed with the sudden turn of events. The world was already broken enough as it was at the moment, they really didn't need this as well. 

The two Frenchmen huffed, Lion rolling his eyes haughtily and Doc clenching his fists until his knuckles turned white. 

“Finka, if you will, please.” Ash changed the subject, pinching the bridge of her nose and shooting daggers at Doc and Lion with her eyes. 

With a last questioning look at her partner, Finka started to explain what was going on in New Mexico briefly. About the local that had sighted a strange object in the sky, and who had followed it to where it had crashed to the earth. How, since then, people had started to become ill; a kind of sickness none of the local doctors had seen before and couldn’t treat. How the people had started to become violent, attacking anyone on sight if they annoyed them. How they shape shifted, and how several different kinds of mutations had taken place in the people. 

“And sadly, just as our investigation seemed to be progressing well, this local man, Boyd Brooks he was called, got hit with the sickness beyond imagination. He won't respond to anything anymore. In fact, he doesn't even seem to be human anymore. So our last piece of the puzzle is this man, but he can't give us answers anymore.” Finka concluded. 

Thermite, Tachanka and Doc nodded thoughtfully, taking in the information that was given clear to them now in comparison to the chaotic explanation Ash had given them in a rush. 

“Which leads us to the conclusion that, unfortunately, we have to get in there.” Ash added once Finka was done speaking. The two women nodded gravely at each other. 

“So we just rush in there? Without a plan or a goal?” Thermite asked, scratching his stubble beard in thought and looking at Ash incredulously. 

“Not quite. We won't go in blind.” Ash gave her teammate a hopeful smile and gestured over to Lion. All eyes were on the tall Frenchman. 

Lion coughed before he started: “I have fabricated a drone that follows me automatically, up in the sky, and scans our surrounding area. With it I have so far been able to sketch a rough map of the area,” he motioned over to the map table the three men stood at, on which the crudely drawn map lay, “and we hope to discover the nursery of the source soon.” 

Dox snorted before he had even finished. “Nursery? I think you mean hive.” 

Lion stared at him hard. “Oh I’m sorry, I didn't realise _you_ were the expert.” 

“Guys...” Ash warned them. 

“Oh no, by all means, continue, professor.” Doc said mockingly. 

“Nursery is perfect. We're using nursery, Gustave.” Ash bit at the medic, and gestured for the other Frenchman to continue talking. 

Narrowing his eyes at the other, Lion had to bite his tongue to keep himself from making another remark. “As I was saying,” He continued after a slight pause, “we hope to find this nursery soon and eradicate it. We just need more time, and reinforcements.” 

“Yes, and that’s where I hope you guys will help me. We need to draw up a fitting team out of the guys in Hereford.” Ash continued immediately as Lion finished, not giving Doc any time to interrupt him again. 

“I’ll need my boys.” Tachanka immediately butted in, crossing his arms over his broad chest. Finka smiled at him, but Ash turned to the Russian sharply. 

“They will be taken into account, Alexsandr, just like everyone else.” Ash told the man. 

“Let's have a seat and discuss this thoroughly, alright?” Thermite patted Ash’s shoulder, attempting to calm her down. 

Ash sighed and closed her eyes for a moment before she turned to Lion and Finka. “You two are dismissed for now. I’ll let you know what we decide.” 

Finka nodded and grabbed Lion’s arm to pull him along, as the two Frenchmen were giving each other vicious looks that could kill. She took him out of the tent and into the fresh evening air, leaving the tense atmosphere of the tent behind them. 

“Breath in deeply, Olivier, and tell me what that was all about.” Finka instructed him strictly as the pair of them made their way down the rows of tents, slowly putting more and more distance between themselves and the uncomfortable situation they had found themselves in only moments ago. 

“There's nothing to tell you.” Lion immediately snapped, not taking Finka's advice to take deep breaths and instead fuming with anger. “He’s _nothing_ you should worry about.” 

“... But you know each other.” Finka said calmly, slowly striding along beside her partner. 

“Knew, more like.” Lion corrected her angrily, his shoulder bumping into a passer-by who looked rather hurt upon the impact of Lion’s broad shoulder. The Frenchman didn't turn around to apologise. 

“Still.” Finka shrugged. 

“He’s just a big humanitarian softy, that’s what he is. An idiot who can't see past his own beliefs and values.” Lion told her, shaking his head. “I will _not_ be working together with him, you understand?” 

“Tell that to Eliza.” Finka snorted, not at all impressed with his angry outburst as they continued their way towards the tent that functioned as a canteen. 

“Whatever.” Lion bit and remained quiet, not involving Finka in his problems again and instead boiling in his own anger and frustrations in silence. 

Let them be, Lion decided grumpily. Finka didn't understand. Doc didn't understand. No one did. 

Fuck them. 

But this reunion was going to do more bad than good. Lion already knew that. 

 

\-- 

Finka let him be as he quietly said his prayers before digging into their dinner. She also dropped the topic of Doc for the duration of the dinner, preferring to talk about this and that in an attempt to brighten Lion’s mood. But no matter what she said, the Frenchman's thoughts always drifted back to their unfortunate meeting an hour ago. 

What were the chances Doc would've joined Team Rainbow? Of course they had cut ties a few weeks after the incident that drove them into a fight and separated them, so he couldn’t have known how the other’s career had developed once he had been forced to step out of his life. He’d rather not have met him again, to protect himself from all the feelings he had been dealing with ever since it even happened. Because those feelings had now turned to the max again; they were louder and more present than ever. 

Regret most of all, but also the feeling of injustice and that he was misunderstood, but couldn’t do anything about it. Because Doc didn't listen. His feelings were tormenting him still. And the worst thing was: there hadn’t been any feelings to start with. Not really. 

They never actually were a thing. And that fact bothered Lion more now than ever. 

The two CBRN operators sat talking for a while after they finished their dinner, before they were called to Ash’s tent again. They set off, Finka with a good pace and Lion's every next step even more reluctant than the one before. The Russian had to drag him along, saying things like ‘he won't be there anymore, they’re getting their dinners!’. But Lion had lost the spirit to tackle this crisis that he had had when they first got to New Mexico. 

But as they arrived at Ash’s tent, the flap was moved aside and none other than Doc appeared. Both operators froze, but Finka quickly recovered. She smiled at the man holding the tent flap open for them and greeted him. Doc greeted her back and let her enter, after which he dropped the tent flap as well as the smile that had been on his face upon seeing Finka. 

Doc approached Lion, his expression despising and his whole posture hostile. “Don't try to do anything funny in here, you understand? You’re with the big guys now. Any stupid mistake can get us all killed.” He gave Lion a light shove which made the taller man stagger backwards. 

“I don't make mistakes.” Lion angrily told him through gritted teeth, walking back to where he stood and towering over the other Frenchman. 

Doc snorted. “Just. Don't. Get. In. My. Way.” He said, pricking his index finger into Lion’s chest at every word. He glared at the taller man hard, looking as if he could strangle him right on the spot. The moment only took a couple of seconds, but Lion didn't flinch under his stare. Oh how he loathed this man. 

Then without another word, they parted ways, Doc leaving Lion in front of the tent as he walked away. 

“Asshole.” Lion murmured, and without looking back he entered the tent. 

Finka looked up worriedly from her conversation with Ash. It was probably very easy to determine how Lion felt. Jaw set, mouth a thin line and fists clenched at his sides. His shoulders were up to his neck and every muscle was tense. His partner gave him a sympathetic smile before Ash turned to him. 

“Ah, there you are. Let's get started.” She said briskly and walked over to a table that stood laden with folders of paper. “We have chosen our team from the men and women of Team Rainbow Six back in Hereford Base. Their files, details and pictures are on this table, and they’ve already been notified. They’ll be taking the next best flight here, and then we can get properly started with our investigations. Read their profiles, there might be some in there that interest you.” 

Lion and Finka approached the table. Finka picked up a few folders, scanned over the profiles and put them back down. They also saw their own folders there, along with Thermite’s, Tachanka’s and Doc's. Lion just stared at the table, reading names that didn't mean anything to him. 

“Oh!” Finka exclaimed after a while, beaming at the folder in her hand. “Maxim, my old mentor!” She turned to Lion, who couldn’t be happy for her and smile back even if he tried to, before she turned to Ash. 

“That was Alexsandr’s choice.” The red-haired woman said with a smile. “He picked Glazkov as well, and would've even invited Shuh over if we let him.” She shook her head laughing. “Those Russians are like a pack. I think you’re going to get along well with them, Lera.” 

Finka smiled. “Maxim and I go way back...” Her voice trailed off as she remembered the older man. Lion wasn't listening, and he wouldn't have understood Finka anyway. They were partners, yet he knew nothing of her past. Neither did he notice the worried look Ash gave him. 

“Tomorrow I want you, Lion, to get into the zone again and scan for this nursery with your drone. Thermite will be accompanying you. We want to know its location before the other operators join us.” Ash then came to business and instructed him. Lion just grunted again in understanding. “Finka, I need you to visit Doc tomorrow. He’s read your medical record, and he’d like to discuss something he found in there. I don't know, it seemed rather important to him. He’ll be your doctor from now on, so I hope you will treat him with the respect he deserves.” She continued sternly, more to Lion than to Finka. 

The smile that had been on Finka’s face upon finding out she'd meet her old mentor again, fell off her features upon hearing those words. She looked rather grave all of a sudden, but neither Ash nor Lion knew exactly why. 

It took the Frenchman all his willpower not to retort to the silly statement made by Ash. That asshole didn’t deserve any respect. 

“Once our reinforcements have arrived and we have located the nursery, we’ll be planning which team is going into the zone. Any questions?” Ash concluded, looking at the two operators in front of her. When their answer was negative, Ash asked Finka to leave her and Lion alone for a moment. 

Since both parties knew what this was going to be about, Finka gave Lion a look that said more than words: control yourself. The Russian operator left the tent and Lion was left alone with their temporary commander. 

“Olivier...” She started, suddenly sounding as tired as she looked. She rubbed her eyes and sighed deeply; her whole being suddenly seeming weak as her shoulders slumped. The moment only took a second though, because soon she was staring down at the Frenchman with that stern face again, pose as strong as ever. “Doc won't tell me what’s the matter, and I fear neither will you. That’s okay, of course. We don't have to lay our personal problems on the table here. But I do not want these problems to cause any trouble for the cooperation within our team. Whatever dispute the two of you are having, I want you to suck it up while you’re working with him. I've told him the same. I do not tolerate any hostilities between my men. And neither will Six. Am I clear?” 

Ash sounded so angry; Lion decided he shouldn’t tell her he didn't want to work together with the other Frenchman; not under any circumstances. He remained angry, breaking eye contact with the woman in front of him. He gave a vague nod, not wanting to commit to this promise in any way. 

“Olivier, answer me.” Ash was on the verge of shouting now. 

“Yes, yes fine.” Lion bit, only to be rid of the woman. “Can I go now?” 

“You’re dismissed.” Ash told him before she turned towards the white board that was filled with hastily scribbled notes. Lion didn't waste another minute and got the hell out of there, pushing the tent flap aside to go into the cool evening air. He walked over to his tent to find Finka there waiting for him. She looked expectantly at her partner. 

“So?” She asked when Lion avoided eye contact. 

“So what?” Lion snapped, angrier than he meant to. 

“So... What did she say?” Finka asked stubbornly. She noticed the other didn't want to talk, but she pushed him into it anyway. 

“I just had to promise not to kill that asshole. Alright? I’m going to sleep.” Lion exclaimed, trying to push past Finka who was baring his way. She stopped him though, and made him look at her. 

“Talk it out. I don't know what happened between the two of you, but glaring at each other isn’t going to help, you idiot.” She told him sternly. 

“It is not that simple!” Lion was nearly shouting. 

“Of course it is.” Finka told him calmly. 

“You really have no idea.” Lion grumbled, pushed past her and entered his tent. He thought he could hear the Russian woman sigh behind him. 

Once he had made sure his tent was closed, Lion undressed and put on his night shirt and sweatpants. He lay on top of his sleeping bag for a while, the screen of his smartphone close to his nose as he scrolled to find a good song to listen to. But even though his phone held over 500 of his favourite tracks, he couldn’t find any he was in the mood for. Grumpily he threw his phone away and simply lay there in the dark, staring at the canvas of the tent and being mad. 

Why? Why had Gustave shown up again? His life had always been a string of problems anyway; he got shit thrown at him all the time and he was used to it, had taught himself to take it as it was and to deal with his problems in a structured manner. 

But how was he going to solve this? Talk it out? Finka couldn’t have been serious. Talking with that idiot was the last thing on his mind. He wasn’t even worth the time and effort. Besides, he wouldn’t listen. He didn't listen to his reasoning then, why would he listen now? 

Lion turned to lie on his side with an angry huff and balled himself up, tucking his knees in and holding his arms. He concentrated on his breathing in an attempt to calm himself down, and closed his eyes. 

Of course he had thought about him. 

More than he cared to admit. 

The medic had been on his mind constantly, a bitter memory to easier times, but not necessarily better times. Lion had tried to forget him, as there wasn’t really anything to remember anyway, but always found he didn't want to. Not really. 

He then took a deep breath and emptied his mind, closed his eyes and laced his fingers together. He remained like that for a while until he found himself calm and at peace again, and then did what he normally did when he was overflowing with stress, emotions and worries: 

Pray. 

Because if anyone in this fucked-up world listened without judging, it was God. It always comforted Lion greatly to pour his heart out in prayer, tell God what was on his mind and ask for advice, for Him to guide him. He would always end his prayer thanking God for listening and asking Him to help and support the needy, to remove evil from the world and to watch over them as a shepherd would with his sheep. He would then finally be able to relax fully, and feel relieved and content again once he opened his eyes. 

Lion did the same now, and found himself calming down gradually. He asked God for the patience to deal with the things he couldn't change, as always, but he needed it now more than ever. He shortly wondered if there was some kind of divine plan for him, that he was getting all this shit thrown at him for a reason. He didn't dwell too long on those thoughts, waving the idea away and deeming it impossible. His life was just more difficult than others', he guessed. Besides, most of it was his own fault. 

Lion finished his prayers and remained on top of his sleeping bag with his eyes closed. The stress and tenseness had left his limbs and muscles, and he was able to relax, if only a bit. 

That night he was able to fall asleep slightly less troubled than he initially feared. 

 

\-- 

“I don't see any infected here, are you sure this area has a major chemical problem?” Thermite asked as Lion navigated their way towards the city the next day. “It doesn’t seem that bad to me, to be honest.” 

Lion had to keep himself from rolling his eyes. “These are the outskirts of the town. The strength of whatever chemical substance or gas is emitted here is very weak. There are still some locals around, those who refused to evacuate. So watch your fire.” He lectured the American trudging along beside him. 

But even though the radiance wasn’t that strong here, both men wore their protective yellow hazmat suits complete with oxygen mask. They were walking towards the centre of the town, but they wouldn’t go inside. It was too dangerous for just the two of them, and they didn't know enough yet. Besides, Ash had given them the strict order to stay as far away from the Zone as possible. No, they were getting closer because the radius of Lion's drone wasn’t quite what he wanted it to be yet. His drone was in his backpack while he needed his hands to hold his rifle in order to protect themselves. Thermite provided support with his own rifle, which he held at the ready in his hands, muzzle down. 

“Right.” Thermite answered bitterly, never having liked being lectured. Especially not by the new guy. “And the cause of all of this, do we really not know what it is? Ash is so secretive about it, but I’m sure you must have an idea of what is causing this?” It was an obvious attempt to make small talk, but Lion wasn’t really feeling it. 

“No, we still don't know for sure.” If there was anything Lion hated, it was admitting he didn't _know_ something. “Of course we have an idea, and it has to do with this local, Boyd Brooks, but we need more time to investigate.” 

“I see.” Thermite answered, and there their conversation faltered again. They hadn’t been able to have a proper conversation of more than 5 minutes yet. 

They walked on until the point where they were closest to the infected Zone as they were allowed to go. Lion put his pack on the floor and rummaged inside it, taking out all his necessary supplies. Thermite simply faced towards the street, scanning it with watchful eyes. Only a couple of minutes later Lion flew his drone into the air and started scanning for this nursery. He had done it a couple of times already, but every attempt had been fruitless. Today he had chosen an area he hadn’t scanned properly before; in the hope he might have overlooked the nursery in his previous attempts. It needed to be found soon, as they would start missions into the Zone as soon as the reinforcements arrived. That, and the longer they took, the further the infection spread... 

Several minutes passed in silence, wherein Thermite stood guard and Lion sat hunched over the feed his drone provided. Then the American spoke up. 

“That's a pretty cool drone you got there.” Another attempt at small talk. 

“I know.” Lion simply answered, and if he had been watching Thermite’s face instead of his feed, he'd seen the disgusted look on his face. Nobody liked arrogant people, and Lion definitely wasn’t making friends this way. 

More time passed while Lion searched and searched, and performed scan after scan. Still his efforts were without results, and he was starting to get frustrated and fed up with it. That was, until he finally hit the gold. 

“Gotcha!” Lion quickly scribbled down the coordination of the place. A large building, which half lay in ruin. This had to be it. 

“Fantastic,” Thermite said, obviously not impressed and bored. “Let's head back.” 

Putting his things away, Lion returned his drone and put the pack on his back. Without another word the two set off back to the extraction point where they would be picked up by a helicopter. This was a ground-breaking discovery with which they could finally start planning missions into the Zone in order to eradicate this problem that’s held the locals and the ops in its claws for days.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small note: as mentioned in the tags, the POV will be alternating per chapter. So last chapter was Lion's, and this chapter is written from Doc’s perspective.
> 
> Please enjoy c:

Doc put his tools down on the cabinet with more force than he should have. He held onto them, staring at nothing in particular while his knuckles turned white and he breathed hard through his nose. His shoulders were stuck to his neck and he swore he could kick a puppy in the face. 

What had gotten into Six? For a respected, righteous woman with knowledge and sense as her, to hire an idiot like Lion, of all people? Not only was the bastard a waste of space, but he had also already proven he wasn’t cut out to deal with crisis situations. 

Lion didn’t belong here. He didn’t belong anywhere. 

How could Six make such a dramatic mistake? Didn't she know what had happened in Africa? The tears, the blood? His idiotic decision that had cost the lives of several innocent people? Doc decided he would have a word with Six upon their return, to fire the idiot from Team Rainbow at once. He shouldn’t be on the team. He shouldn’t be near Doc. It was better if he vanished off the face of the earth. 

Doc blinked as he realised he was zoning out in his anger again. He hated how Lion had been on his mind ever since meeting the two new CBRN operators the day before, especially since he had spent the last 2 to 3 years erasing him from his memories. The medic hadn’t been able to muster a single proper, useful thought ever since being face to face with _him_ again. How did it happen? What were the chances? 

What were the chances he’d see his failure again? 

Doc shook his head absent-mindedly at how reckless he had been in those days. It had been a stupid fling. With the wrong guy. He angrily gritted his teeth at himself for catching himself thinking about him yet again. 

He turned around to face the rest of the medical tent, his hands on his hips and his mouth a thin line. It was quite primitive and small, not like his office back at Hereford Base at all. Still he’d have to put up with it for the duration of their deployment. Now he had finally started unpacking the medical tools he had taken, after hours of discussions with Ash throughout the night. He hadn’t been able to take all of his instruments, only the most necessary ones, and even then he wasn’t sure what he’d need exactly. How does one treat an infection that was alien to this world? 

He was too pissed off now to wonder about that issue. 

Doc looked around the medical tent, and shook his head at how carelessly he had laid out his tools. This was so unlike him, to not put the time and care into the layout of his working area as he usually did. He was just so frustrated now, especially after Ash had demanded he cooperated with the other Frenchman. Having to bear his presence was one thing, but having to actually work together with him? Over his dead body. 

Naturally, Doc had refused at first, but the fiery American woman wouldn’t have none of that. In the end he had grudgingly agreed, but he still loathed Olivier with his whole being. 

The idiot. The moron. The waste of space. 

Doc didn't want anything to do with Lion for the rest of his life. He had sworn that the day they had separated. It was a black chapter in his book, a chapter he’d like to forget about. To glue shut and never open again, as if it never happened. 

There had been no feelings. Just touch. 

Sadly, fate seemed to hate him and had again thrown the man onto his path. How could Doc forget about his existence if he walked around the same camp he was in? How could Doc forget the pain he had brought if he was to look after his well-being, being his doctor and all? 

Agitated, Doc kicked his medicine cabinet with a grunt. This only resulted in a dull pain in his foot, and all kinds of bottles, boxes and tubes of medicine to come crashing down from where they had previously been stored safely. Doc glared at the items on the floor, as if to dare them to get back up there again all by themselves, and strode out of the tent with a grunt and into his own personal one in white-hot anger. 

He was assigned to the tent that was attached to the medical bay, so that he would be able to operate as efficiently as possible. Now he sat down onto the flimsy, plastic folding chair that stood in one corner. Furiously he looked at his bag that was still stuffed with clothes; he hadn’t had time yet to unpack those and fold them away neatly into the small locker inside his tent, but he really wasn’t feeling like doing it now. 

Someone up there hated his guts. 

Doc rested his elbows on his knees, and held his head in his hands. He closed his eyes and sighed a few times, which he usually found releases stress very well. Yet now he didn’t seem to be able to come to peace at all. 

Calm. The fuck. Down. 

This wasn’t the end of the world. Maybe the idiot would stay out of trouble so Doc would never have to take care of him. Maybe they never had to cross paths again. Maybe he could convince Six to fire him once they safely returned to Hereford Base. And then it was bye bye, good riddance, adios Olivier. 

“Doc?” 

An unsure voice came from the tent next to his, the medical tent. Doc looked up, startled out of his thoughts, holding his breath. 

“Gustave?” 

He then recognised the voice to be Finka’s, the new Russian operator. He sighed in relief as he found he tolerated her already – unlike her partner – but also in annoyance as he really wasn’t in the mood for a chat at the moment. Doc got up reluctantly and entered the other tent to find her waiting for him. 

“Lera, I’m sorry, I was in my tent. I still haven’t unpacked properly.” Doc greeted her and offered his excuses for his absence, giving her a smile that he hoped would hide his true feelings. Luckily she gave a small smile back. 

“Hello Gustave. Ash told me you’d like to speak to me?” Finka asked. 

Doc nodded thoughtfully, having completely forgotten about Finka’s condition in his anger. He recalled reading her medical record last night, which was worrying to say the least. According to what was written in there, Finka was dealing with neuropathy, which could become a major problem over time. He needed to discuss the illness with her, and to do so professionally, he had to let go of his feelings for a moment. 

And Doc always found that very easy, somehow. Once it came to someone’s well-being, he could easily let go of his own thoughts and emotions in order to fully concentrate on the person who needed his help. After all, such a trait was vital for a medic in the military. And so, Doc shook the tenseness out of his body and emptied his thoughts. He drove Lion out of his mind to have all the attention he needed for Finka. 

“Yes, I have read your medical record and I would like to discuss some bits and pieces, if that is alright.” Doc smiled gently at her. 

“Nobody knows about it.” Finka said softly, smiling back. Yet her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes, as she seemed sombre and sad. 

Doc nodded. Of course, this was quite an illness, and Finka had all the right to worry about it. It was his job to take away the worry, or in the very least support her in it. Still, she looked healthy and strong, so that took Doc’s worries away slightly. “As your doctor I have taken an oath of secrecy. Nobody else knows or has to know. I would just like to make sure you stay safe, alright?” 

The Russian woman seemed relieved at that, and nodded. 

“Now, have a seat and tell me about yourself.” Doc gestured over to his desk with a smile, which was not properly set up yet. It was filled with folders and papers; not an inch of its wooden top could be seen. Still Finka sat down gratefully, and Doc took the seat opposite of her. He rummaged for a piece of clean paper and a pen before he took a deep breath, released it and concentrated on the Russian in front of him. He then motioned for Finka to start. 

She told him much he already knew from her files, like the cause of her neuropathy, her youth, and the development of her military career. She also mentioned the smart nanobots she had fabricated, which boosted her senses. There was still room for improvement, as she told him, but for now they sufficed. Doc spoke of his interest in them, and told her he’d help her improve its effect and functions when things quietened down a little. Lastly she explained what it was like living with neuropathy throughout her life, something that wasn’t in the medical record. Doc listened to her, noting down small things that seemed of importance to him. 

Over time, Doc noticed how much it relieved the Russian woman to speak of her illness. She started rather quietly and she seemed shy almost, but she opened up gradually. Which made sense, of course. The medic had often been faced with patients who were reluctant of speaking about their sicknesses. Doc liked to make sure these patients knew there was nothing to be ashamed of, and that he was there for them. Finka had started to get that same feeling, it seemed. All Doc did was listen patiently, nod in understanding and from time to time he asked her to clarify something. But that was all a patient needed. It seemed Finka was grateful she could finally discuss what’s been worrying here throughout her whole life; such an important part of her life that she hid for everyone. 

After the Russian woman had let her heart out, Doc discussed some aspects of neuropathy with her, took her worries away as much as he could and promised her they’d look into improving her nanobots together later. 

Finka seemed much calmer and happier when she got up, shook Doc’s hand and thanked him for his time. The medic showed her out of the medical tent with a smile. 

When silence returned to his tent once more, Doc sighed. 

Must be great to let your heart out like that about the thing that bothers you. 

Or the person. 

 

\-- 

The sun had already set when Doc looked around his medical tent with a satisfied smile on his face and his arms crossed in front of his chest. After Finka had left, he had used his peace of mind to tidy up the place. All his tools and instruments were in the right place now, his desk was neatly organised and all his luggage had been unpacked. Even the few personal belongings he had taken. Nothing cleansed the mind like a good reorganisation, Doc thought as he gave the place an approving nod. He had even put the boxes and bottles of medicine back in place that he had knocked over that afternoon. 

Yes, Doc felt at peace now. He was no longer angry and fuming over a certain person. He wasn’t even thinking about him anymore, he- 

“Hey there, Gustave. Admiring your new work place? Be careful, or you might want to stay here forever.” A voice that could only belong to Thermite startled Doc and stopped his train of thought. 

Doc gave the pleasantly grinning man a welcoming smile as he entered the medical tent. “They’d have to pay me in pure gold for me to stay here any longer than necessary.” He greeted the laughing American. “Anyway, what can I do for you? Weren’t you locating the hive today?” 

“The nursery,” Thermite corrected Doc, raising his index finger and mockingly repeating Ash. The medic rolled his eyes, but laughed. Nothing could ruin his good mood anymore. Not even Thermite’s terrible jokes. “But yes, we did locate it. Only, we encountered a slight problem. The place wasn’t as safe as _someone_ assured me it was.” Thermite continued, rolling his eyes and Doc immediately knew who this ‘someone’ was. 

“Did you get hurt?” Doc immediately approached Thermite with a worried frown and inspected him for any signs of pain or injury. But he didn’t seem hurt at all. 

“Not me, him.” Thermite said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder. 

Doc looked behind him, but all he saw was the empty opening of the medical tent. Outside the light was gradually fading and the lights had come on. People were bustling about inside the camp, but there was no sign of someone waiting in front of his tent waiting for medical assistance. 

Thermite looked around as well, sighed loudly and raised his voice in annoyance. “Fuck sake, Olivier. He doesn’t bite you know.” 

Doc’s lips formed a thin line upon hearing that statement, both because of the name and because the statement was technically untrue. He shivered involuntarily at the dead memories flooding his mind. 

Stop. Positive thoughts. 

“I told you, I’m not hurt.” Lion complained as he half appeared in the entrance to the tent, looking like he didn’t want to be there at all. Like Thermite, Lion was still in full combat clothes, complete with yellow hazmat suit and his helmet he leisurely carried underneath his arm. He didn’t actually look inside but rather stared into the distance, probably in the direction of his own tent. In any way, he didn’t make eye contact with Thermite nor with Doc. 

“And I’m not risking you turning into one of those freaks. Get it checked out.” Thermite said, not turning around to look at the taller Frenchman and rolling his eyes at Doc. The medic felt a strong sympathy for Thermite; the American already had enough of the new CBRN specialist. Good. 

“What happened?” Doc asked, deciding to stay professional. It was his job to look after the men of Six, after all. Even if he rather used his skills to kill this particular one. 

“Well, we had located the nursery and we were on our way back. Hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary so far. But he said the area was safe. That the radiance wasn’t strong in those parts. So naturally, when we saw someone staggering around on the street, we didn’t pay them much mind. But _it_ attacked us as soon as we turned our backs on it. Somehow managed to leave a nasty scratch on his back, claws even ripped through the protective suit. We turned around and killed it immediately, but I think the wound should be disinfected.” Thermite explained before Lion could speak. 

“I told you, I’m fine.” Lion snapped, boring holes into Thermite’s back from where he stood, now looking inside but still standing in front of the tent and refusing to come in. 

“I think we best check it out, shouldn’t we? We don’t want you mutating overnight and killing all of us in our sleep. That would be disastrous, wouldn’t it? I assume you’re not here to kill innocent people, are you?” Doc mocked him, but he managed to keep his voice calm and professional. He gave the man a fake smile. Lion glared at him. 

“My thoughts exactly. Get in here, Olivier.” Thermite demanded, sounding just as angry as Doc had felt that afternoon. 

“I don’t need help.” Lion bit as he still refused to come inside. Doc switched his weight to his other leg as he patiently watched and waited for the idiot to admit he needed help. 

“Arrogant prick.” Thermite muttered under his breath at Doc and turned around to walk out of the tent and towards Lion. “Feeling alright then, Olivier? The wound doesn’t hurt?” He said, louder than necessary as he slapped Lion on the shoulder hard in a quasi-camaraderie way. 

The taller Frenchman winced and inhaled sharply upon the contact, cowering away from Thermite in reaction. 

Yes, it hurt. 

“Get in there, you idiot. He won’t kill you.” Thermite told Lion angrily. 

We’ll see about that, Doc thought. 

“I’m going to Ash to tell her about the outcome of our mission. Get yourself patched up.” He told the new operator, and strode off purposefully. Doc watched him walk out of view before his dark eyes settled on the other man, who was rolling his painful shoulder. 

Would he come in? 

“Fuck it.” Lion hissed and finally stepped inside the tent. He brushed past the medic without looking at him and sat down on top of the hospital bed that stood in the middle of the tent without being invited to do so. He placed his helmet next to him and sat with his back towards Doc as he added: “Make it quick.” 

Doc sighed as he walked over to his cabinet and pulled on his mask and put on his latex gloves at his leisure. Nobody was telling him to ‘make it quick’ inside his own office. Once he was sufficiently prepared, he approached Lion’s back to inspect the wound. The spot was obvious, as his clothes were torn and four long rashes covered his shoulder. The wounds didn’t seem too deep but they were bleeding slightly, staining Lion’s yellow hazmat suit. 

Doc carefully pushed the torn fabric away to get a better look at the wounds. Honestly it looked like he had been scratched by some kind of wild cat; the wounds weren't wide at all. Had a human being done this? And... why? 

“I'm going to need you to take your suit off so I can disinfect the wound.” Doc stated. 

For some reason or other, Lion tensed slightly at the request, before he slowly started to remove his chest armour. Once he had dropped it to the floor beside his feet that dangled from the bed, he opened his hazmat suit and pulled it down to his hips. Finally he removed the other layers of clothing before the wound was accessible. 

During this whole process, Doc kept his eyes averted. He looked up after a while to find the other Frenchman sitting on the bed, his hazmat suit pooled around his belly on the bed and the strong muscles on his back showing. 

Again he approached the man, this time with disinfectant and a cloth in hand. Putting some of the liquid on the clean, sterilised cloth, Doc grabbed Lion’s healthy shoulder with one hand and held the cloth above the wound. For a second he looked from the scratch to the nape of Lion's neck, where a small necklace could now be seen. 

The devote Christian who murdered and was homosexual. Couldn’t get more hypocritical. 

“This is going to sting a bit.” 

The other just grunted in response. Doc brought the cloth down to his skin, not too roughly but definitely not too gently. Lion hissed and tried to get away from the contact on instinct, but Doc’s grip prevented that. Then Lion stayed still and didn't utter another sound while Doc cleaned and disinfected the wound slowly. 

The silence between them was uncomfortable, awkward and tense while Doc worked. 

Once the wound was cleaned, Doc dressed it in bandages just to be on the safe side. Should they start bleeding again, then these bandages would prevent Lion’s clothes from getting soaked in blood or pus. Besides that, they would keep the wound clean. 

Because of the silence that hung between them, the task seemed to take longer than it did in reality. When Doc was finally done, he took a step back to look at his work. The bandages were pressed tight to the wounds and would not show underneath Lion’s clothes, but they would probably make movement a bit harder. 

Doc also gazed upon his form once again, with a mixture of feelings. 

“Are we done here?” Lion asked impatiently as he didn't feel Doc’s gloved hands on his shoulders anymore and interrupted the medic’s thoughts. 

“Yes, yes. You can get dressed again, but watch the shoulder. The bandages will need to be replaced tomorrow morning. You can come to me for that, or ask someone to help you.” – although Doc doubted the arrogant man would ask for help; and he certainly wouldn’t come back to him – “If the wound starts pulsing, or if it gets wet, come see me immediately.” 

Lion didn't answer as he started dressing himself again, still with his back facing the medic. 

“Am I clear?” Doc asked sternly while he took off his mask and threw his gloves in the bin. 

“Fine.” Lion gave an exaggerated, annoyed sigh after another moment of silence. 

The man was dressed now and stood up from the bed. He immediately made for the exit of the tent, turned around abruptly in its entrance and seemed to think for a moment, looking at Doc with his mouth half open as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he left without another word. Doc watched the now empty entrance, shaking his head. 

Not even a thank-you. 

 

\-- 

Later that evening the reinforcements arrived. They all gathered in Ash’s tent and it was a happy little meeting. Smoke, Ying, Glaz, Kapkan, Buck, Jäger, they were all there. Each and every one of them excellent operators. Men and women Doc trusted. It was noisy, though, as they conversed and laughed, momentarily forgetting about the horrors that lay waiting for them outside of the camp. 

Finka, one of the new Russian CBRN specialists, had introduced herself to the others, making small talk with them and getting to know them better. She ended up with the Russians, where she hugged Kapkan as an old friend, shook hands with Glaz and smiled warmly at Tachanka. The four stayed together for the rest of the evening, and seemed to get along very well as far as Doc could tell. He was happy for Finka. 

Doc himself was surrounded by Ying, Smoke, Jäger and Buck, who were casually talking about this and that while they waited for Ash and Thermite. The two American operators were still discussing the mission that was to take place tomorrow, apparently not coming to an agreement as to how it should be executed. 

All on his own in the other corner of the tent was Lion, tapping away on his phone with a bored look on his face. He hadn't bothered to introduce himself to the others, but rather glared at Finka when she did it for him. He hadn't talked to any of them yet, nor had he shaken any of their hands. Doc saw how the Rainbow operators glanced at him curiously, yet nobody approached him. 

Good. 

Doc didn't acknowledge his presence by looking at him or talking to him either. He hoped the other would soon feel left out, and take his leave from their special team. There was nothing that could make Doc happier. 

After a while Ash finally entered the tent with Thermite close behind her. She welcomed the reinforcements hastily and immediately got down to business as the others quietened down. 

“We are faced with a serious crisis here.” Ash started, grabbing all the present ops’ attention. Even Lion looked up from his phone. “And we do not yet fully know its cause and effects. We're running an investigation as we speak, but action needs to be taken rapidly. Whatever infection hangs in the air – be it chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear - we've got our specialists here whom I’m sure you’ve met already.” 

Ash proudly motioned over to the two new operators. Finka gave a small nod as she looked around the tent, while Lion gave a grimace and avoided eye contact with anyone, instead keeping his eyes fixed on Ash as if he was urging her to continue so this meeting would be over as soon as possible. 

“I'm running the investigation with this latest addition to our team, and in the meantime, I need you all to act.” Ash looked around the small group of people gathered in the tent before she continued in a grave tone: “People are coming down with unexplainable sicknesses. They’ve become our enemies. But these enemies do not shoot back. They _fight_ back. We need to keep a low profile here in order to act without the media and government watching our every move. I’m sure humanitarian organisations won't be happy with us using force on what previously were civilians. But we do need to protect ourselves.” 

“What's to be done then?” Asked Tachanka, probably bored of hearing the same speech all over again. Ash had already told them this when they first arrived to the camp in New Mexico. 

“Tomorrow at 1100 we’re sending out the first team into the zone. It will be their task to destroy the nursery we managed to locate today. Gear will be provided, and Jordan has fabricated a special exothermic charge to destroy the nursery with. I will give a more specific briefing tomorrow, although much will come down to the situation over there. We will be guiding you through your comms, the rest is up to you, I’m afraid. The team for tomorrow is Buck, Ying and Smoke. Jäger, you’re responsible for their extraction. We've got a helicopter.” Ash instructed them and announced the team. 

She looked at the four operators in question, who nodded. Jäger smiled brightly, apparently happy he finally got to spend time with his most-expensive hobby: helicopters. Ying, Smoke and Buck shared a look as well, although much less happy than Jäger’s. 

“That's settled then. I will give more information tomorrow. Now you should all sleep, you must be tired from the journey and you need to rest before tomorrow.” 

And with that the team was dismissed. Funnily enough the first one out of the tent was Lion, who brushed past everyone like a hurricane. It didn't even take him a second to exit the tent. Doc watched him go, shaking his head. The others stared after him too, surprised and mumbling amongst themselves. 

Manners were something the man had always lacked, Doc knew. 

Tomorrow's team left soon after, and Doc overheard the Russians saying they would sit down for a few drinks before they hit the bed as well. They left, talking loudly amongst themselves in their own language. Left now were Ash, Thermite and Doc. 

The American woman slumped down into a seat with a sigh. “What a day...” 

“Is it wise to send our men into the zone without fully knowing its dangers?” Doc couldn’t help himself but voice his concerns. 

“They'll be wearing hazmat suits and oxygen masks. It will be relatively safe.” Ash answered simply. 

“Those won't do any good if this is a nuclear issue.” Doc retorted. 

“Our CBRN specialists are certain this problem is not nuclear, Gustave.” The American woman sighed, looking at him from where she sat. 

“Are they sure?” Doc asked stoically, folding his arms. 

“Yes, Gustave.” An angry tone could be heard in Ash’s tired voice. “I trust them. Do you?” 

Two pairs of eyes were on him while Doc wasn’t quite sure what to answer. He trusted Finka alright. But that incompetent bastard? He doubted him very much. 

“To be honest, I’m not so sure about this Lion fella. I told you, Eliza, didn't I?” To Doc’s surprise, Thermite spoke up. “During that mission today, I don't know man... He keeps to the rules so strictly, yet he still seems so reckless to me.” The American continued while he shook his head, and he turned to Doc now. “And don't get me started on his attitude. What a complete and utter-" 

“That's enough, Jordan.” Ash cut him off. “Lion is a member of our team now, and you must learn to respect each other. Give it time.” 

Doc snorted at that. As if. Even Thermite rolled his eyes. 

“The same applies to you, Gustave.” Ash hissed, pointing her index finger in his direction. “I will not allow whatever issue you two have to threaten the safety of my men.” 

When Doc just huffed in response, Ash sent the two men away, saying she had to get a much-needed sleep. The two men left immediately, not wanting to anger her even more, and walked out into the night air. The camp was silent, apart from the loud voices coming from the canteen. The Russians. 

Doc turned to Thermite to say goodnight, but the American spoke up first. 

“What's this issue Ash mentioned? Between you and Lion?” The man was too curious for his own damn good. He looked at Doc, eyes shining brightly and a quasi-innocent smile on his face. 

“We don't get along well.” Doc simply stated, hoping to get rid of the other’s questions. It was an understatement, yes, but Doc deemed it enough information for Thermite. 

“I could see that. He didn't even want you to treat that nasty scratch on his back. The idiot.” Thermite scoffed. 

“An idiot indeed.” Doc agreed. 

“Will he manage?” Thermite asked. 

“I hope he’s gone as soon as we're done here.” Doc said, and he meant it. Team Rainbow didn't need a failure. 

“You and I, pal.” Thermite smiled and patted the medic’s shoulder. “Anyway, good night.” 

“Night, Jordan.” Doc replied with a nod, and set off towards his own tent. 

_He_ didn't need another failure.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lion's POV

The first mission into the zone had been rather disastrous. 

Buck, Smoke and Ying had returned from their mission without any major injuries and they had managed to destroy the nursery, yes, but upon extraction Jäger had crashed his helicopter. This resulted in the ops having to retrieve him from an unknown, hostile area, which obviously hadn’t been part of the plan at all. The three had to venture further into the zone than Lion and Finka had investigated yet, and it had been a tense hour both out in the field as well as in Ash’s tent, where the remaining ops oversaw the mission. Nobody was sure if the pilot was still alive. 

Inside Ash’s tent everybody had been watching the camera feed with baited breath – apart from Lion, who had watched indifferently. He didn't know this Jäger guy and if it was his time to go, so be it. But the team found Jäger on time, and after dealing with the nearby hostiles they were able to extract him. By the end of this whole ordeal the team had completely ran out of ammo as well as energy, but at least they were safe. Lion had left the tent shortly after that. 

The ops had returned and at the moment Doc was seeing to the wounded ops, with Jäger as his priority; Ash and Thermite were discussing the results of the mission and the Russians were training together. In short; the quiet had returned for now. This left Lion on his own, but that didn't really bother him. He was happy to be rid of them all. 

He was sitting out on the grass in the late-afternoon sun, some magazines on music spread around him, his earphones in his ear blasting his favourite music on shuffle and a piece of chewing gum in his mouth that had already lost its flavour. At the moment he was listening to Staind, one of his favourite bands, while he leafed through his magazines. He wasn't really reading them; more looking at the pictures and losing himself in the music. These were old magazines and he had already read them all; the latest issue must have been delivered at his home already. To keep himself occupied in moments like these, he had taken as many of the older issues on this mission as he could carry. Music meant everything to him, and he loved to listen to the songs he listened to as a teenager. 

He looked up at the blue sky that was dotted with small clouds when the next song came on. 

_Waste._

This song in particular meant a lot to him. 

Not because of his recent failure, no. But because of the failures before that. Breaking with his parents, giving up his religion, failing his now ex-girlfriend Claire and his son, his addictions that followed, the abyss he had found himself in- 

He’d been a right sad excuse for a human being. 

Yet he’d never given up. After all the shit he went through, he never gave up. Once he’d found his way back to his religion and had started working towards a worthy goal, he came out a stronger man. He’d survived himself. 

And he had achieved all of that mostly without help nor support. Nobody cheered him on, nobody had been waiting for him to come out of the other end of the dark tunnel. And still, he knew he had never been forsaken completely. 

_In my dream we walked, you and I to the shore_  
Leaving footprints by the sea  
And when there was just one set of prints in the sand  
That was when you carried me. 

Yes, not forsaken. Someone always looked over his shoulder, and guided him through the rough bits. Lion absentmindedly smiled as he remembered this and reached his hand up to his chest to make sure it was there, under his shirt. His necklace. His religion. 

He had made peace with his past. The relationship between himself and his ex was basically non-existent, and the one between him and his son was awkward. But he managed. Lion hung onto his faith and, until a few years ago, the one person that finally brightened his world a little after all that time he had lived in darkness. Sadly, even that person had never given him the love he needed, and had stepped out of Lion’s life way too soon. 

Alright, he wasn’t sure if he was even capable of being in another relationship. He had fucked up the one with Claire so much, Lion was afraid of falling back into old patterns. What he and Doc had had couldn’t be described as a relationship. It couldn’t even be described as friends. It was just a fling that was over the moment Lion made his decision in Africa. But he had always been enamoured by the exotic Frenchman, and he always would be. 

Only, the asshole didn't need to know that. 

Doc probably didn't feel a thing for him, especially not now, and that was alright. For Lion, as a broken human being, it was useless to pursue a romantic relationship. He wouldn't do anyone any good. 

Which made it even worse when the next song on shuffle was _All I Want_. It was way too happy, way too lovely for his current gloomy mood. 

Shaking his head, he thought back about the day before. How could he have injured himself? How could he have let it happen? It was so unlike him to let his guard down, but he had been so sure the outskirts of the town were safe. It seemed the infection had spread further than they anticipated... 

And then the embarrassment of facing Doc with his teeny tiny problems. Lion wished he could've vanished off the face of the earth at that moment. Yes, the wound had throbbed and Doc had taken away the pain, but to be so intimately close to him again was torture. The gloved hands on his shoulders had been distant, his touch cold. 

So unlike he remembered it... 

With a huff Lion skipped the song. 

Suddenly the sun was blocked from the Frenchman. Lion looked up annoyed, to see who was in his light. 

It was Doc, of all people, looking down on him. Speaking of the devil. Irritated by the other's presence, Lion angrily pulled out his earphones. 

“What? You’re in my sun.” Lion bit. 

“Have you replaced your bandages this morning?” Doc asked, coming straight to the point as he probably didn’t want to spend more time with Lion than necessary. 

“Shouldn't you be bothering yourself with the others?” Lion asked, avoiding the question. Of course he hadn’t replaced his bandages. Who would help him? Finka was too busy with the other Russians now, and Lion definitely wouldn’t ask the others for help. 

“I have already tended to them and their situation is stable. Now answer the damn question.” Doc was losing his patience fast. Wow, someone got out of the bed on the wrong side this morning, Lion thought. Even though he knew very well it was his presence that made the medic behave this way. He remembered the man being calm and respectful to everyone, be it a soldier, a child or a civilian. Hell, he would probably even try to save a hostile if he was injured badly with nowhere to go. 

But Lion, no. Not anymore. 

Lion popped his chewing gum and just shrugged his shoulders indifferently. 

“Come with me.” Doc ordered him flatly. 

“I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt.” Lion wasn’t going anywhere. “And I can't waste the time of such an important man for that small little wound, can I?” 

Doc was losing his cool now as Lion continued to mock him. “The dried blood and dirt can still infect it.” The medic said through gritted teeth, trying very hard to stay professional. 

“Wow, don't tell me you’ve suddenly started caring about me?” Lion said, faking to be surprised. “If I didn't know any better, I’d think you _want_ this wound to get infected more than anything. And you wouldn’t mind if I succumbed to it either and died, would you?” 

In a single step, Doc had quickly covered the distance between himself and the place where Lion still sat on the grass. He bent down and, grabbing a fistful of Lion’s shirt, he suddenly pulled the other up close in one aggressive movement. “I'd let you rot in hell, or in that stupid zone of yours, for all I care.” He hissed in Lion’s ear, glaring at him as if he indeed wanted him dead before he threw Lion back to the floor. 

Quite shocked by the sudden change in the other’s behaviour, Lion smoothened his shirt where Doc had held it in an iron grip. The medic had turned around and put distance between himself and Lion again. Lion watched his figure, mentally stabbing him in the back with a dagger. Asshole. 

“Sadly it is my job to keep you alive.” Doc simply stated calmly; his voice professional again. “So now, if you’d be a good patient?” 

And with that, Doc didn't even look back as he started walking towards the medical tent. Lion stared perplexed, watching him go. 

The _nerve_. 

Still, Lion sighed, and he was probably going to regret this but he gathered his bits and pieces and moodily followed the older Frenchman with a clenched jaw, all the while glaring at his figure angrily. 

Sadly, it _was_ Doc’s job to keep him alive. Lion realised that. He had the power to make his recovery easier or harder if he wanted to, should Lion ever get injured badly. Lion hated being dependant on him like that. 

They arrived at the medical tent without having said another word to each other. At least this time Lion wasn’t alone in the medical tent with Doc, as Jäger was resting on one of the beds, looking rather pale and exhausted. Their eyes met for a moment but neither greeted the other, so Lion just ignored his presence and sat down on the bed as he had done yesterday. Without being asked, he removed his shirt. 

Doc checked up on the German shortly before he put on his white gloves and mask again and approached Lion’s back. He pulled off the old bandages none too gently, and inspected the wound. Lion only grimaced as he prodded around the scratches, letting the medic do his thing even though he rather would have turned around and slapped him in the face for making the wound hurt unnecessarily. This time Doc didn't warn Lion as he disinfected it, making the other man hiss in pain at the unexpected contact. The medic then quickly dressed the wound again, and Lion was sure he put the bandages on tighter on purpose. 

Where he had seemed more careful yesterday, he now seemed to handle him roughly on purpose. It was probably to give Lion a taste of what to expect if he didn't follow his doctor's orders. Lion hated his subtle display of power, the abuse, but he didn't protest. He'd never want to seem weak in front of the medic. 

On Doc's command Lion put his shirt back on. He got off the bed, glared at the man behind him for a short moment without saying a word before he immediately made for the exit. He told himself to wake Finka up extra early the next day, to apply a clean bandage the following morning, before she would slip off to hang out with the other Russians again. 

Lion didn't want to be near Doc again, and the feeling was mutual. 

 

\-- 

That evening Lion sat inside Ash’s tent with the American herself, Finka and Thermite. They were discussing the disastrous mission, and the things they had discovered about the zone because of it. For one, it seemed they had more enemies than they initially thought. There were the people that had gone rather aggressive, but there were also people who had mutated in a much worse way. The longer the people were exposed to the chemical threat, the worse they seemed to mutate. This fact was worrying Ash a lot. 

“I honestly think our best chance is to nuke the place.” Thermite nodded for the third time that evening. “Gets rid of the vermin in one hit. They won't even notice it.” 

Lion sat in his seat, legs crossed and arms folded. He rolled his eyes. The man kept going on and on about nukes. 

Pff. _Americans._

“I told you, Jordan. It's on the table, but I’d rather not. It's our last resort.” Ash sighed, getting tired of her friend’s excitement for nukes. “Besides, they’re not vermin. They’re still people and we might be able to save them still.” 

“You think it's possible?” Finka inquired, her face serious. 

“I’ve been talking to Doc. He's onto something, but he's doing his research as we speak. He promised he’d notify me if he found anything as soon as possible. I’m not sure what he’s found, but I’m hopeful.” Ash replied. 

Lion gave an exaggerated sigh at the mention of the medic. 

“Do you have any better ideas, Flament?” Ash snapped at him. 

“Well,” Lion started as he casually got up and paced the tent with his hands behind his back, “personally I’d be interested to do some research on an object from the zone. Say, a sample of the black and red structures we’ve been seeing, or some blood of one of those creatures. Could give us some interesting insights.” 

“For that we’d have to venture deeper into the zone than we've done so far on our recon missions.” Finka retorted. 

“Yes, and we don't even know what the matter is. Even if it was soft enough to scrape off or break off, we don't know if it's safe to touch, let alone bring back to the camp for investigations. Don't think I haven’t pondered over this option yet. But taking blood of one of the mutated, maybe...” Ash seemed to be lost in thought for a moment. 

“-But I see the sense in it, and I think it could prove useful.” Finka carefully added, agreeing with Lion. 

“Are you mad? It's potentially dangerous.” Ash put her hands on her hips. “The infection is contained at the moment. I don't want to bring it here and infect our men. We may be the only ones who can solve this situation without having to nuke the whole god damn place.” She said, looking at Thermite who smiled back and held his hands up innocently. 

“We won't know until we try, will we?” Lion shrugged, staying on topic and ignoring the playful shove Ash gave the other American. “Personally I think it will be easier to take a sample of the matter than the blood of the infected, though. I’m sure they won’t let us take a test tube off them willingly.” 

“It would really help our research to know what exactly we’re dealing with.” Finka added, giving Lion a look for not negotiating tactically with their commander. Lion just shrugged at her. He just spoke his mind. That’s all. 

Ash was speechless for a moment, before she thoughtfully responded: “Alright, but I’ll wait for the outcome of Doc's investigation. I’ll let you know what’s to happen once I know more.” 

Lion and Finka nodded in agreement. Thermite crossed his arms. 

“What worries me though, is this apex enemy, as you’ve named him. The others seem to have mutated and taken on a different form, but I don't know what the deal is with this one. He fucking floats, as we've seen on the team’s feed.” Thermite looked troubled as he expressed his concerns. “That’s not natural.” 

“Well, none of this is.” Ash retorted. 

“No, what I mean is... There's clearly something terribly wrong here, for mutations like that to exist...” Thermite shivered involuntarily. 

“It's unlike anything we’ve ever seen before, yes. But rest assured we'll get to the bottom of this soon enough.” Finka nodded resolutely at him. 

“If only we could do some research in the zone...” Lion added sarcastically with a look at the red-haired woman. 

“Flament, I just told you... I’m waiting for Gustave’s research and-" Ash couldn’t even finish her sentence before she was rudely interrupted by Lion. 

“And just what does _he_ know about all of this?” Lion spit, venom in his voice. That medic was so pretentious. _They_ were the specialists here. 

“You'd be surprised at what that man knows, Flament.” Ash countered angrily, defending her trusted doctor. 

The atmosphere thickened in the tent. Lion gave Ash a daring look as the fiery American woman glared back angrily. Thermite shook his head at the Frenchman’s behaviour and Finka tried to make eye contact with her partner to warn him, but it was in vain. Lion was as stubborn as a mule. 

“And this is the last warning for you, Flament. Doubt Doc, or any of my men again, and you’re out.” Ash concluded, the tone of her voice threatening. 

To everyone’s astonishment, Lion shrugged his shoulders indifferently at those words, and broke eye contact with Ash. He turned his back on the woman. 

Now, don't get him wrong. Lion wanted to stay in team Rainbow very much. To be part of such an elite counter terrorism group had been his dream ever since he joined the army, especially after all that had happened to him. It was good to have a purpose. But Lion had never been good at cooperation with others, and only those who were resistant to his ego could work well with him. Sadly, there were few of those people around. Finka was an example, though. How she put up with his shit sometimes... 

Of course, another reason was Doc. To be in his presence again was torture, and now Lion wasn’t so sure of what he wanted anymore. Could he function well in this team? With so many different people, and the hardest factor of all: Doc? 

“You’re dismissed.” Ash hissed at his back, but Lion had already intended to leave anyway. He didn’t look back as he exited the tent, not for the first time in these days relishing in the fresh air that surrounded him as soon as he stepped out of the suffocating tent. He breathed in deeply and closed his eyes for a moment before he marched through the rows of tents towards his own. 

About halfway, Finka caught up with him. 

“Olivier! You can’t keep doing this!” She said in a hushed, but angry voice, grabbing the Frenchman’s lower arm. Lion yanked it away from her. 

“I won’t respect him! I’ll never respect him!” Lion roared, living up to his name. 

Finka hushed him, looked around and guided the seething Frenchman to his tent. 

“Shouldn’t you be hanging out with your Russian friends?” Lion countered, still trying to pull away from her. 

Finka ignored the hostile question and instead continued to talk to him quietly as they made their way towards their tents. “Olivier, listen. You can't go on like this. Ash won't allow it. This is going to go wrong soon and if it does, you’ll be blamed. I don't want you to be kicked off the team. Is this really all about the medic? I’ve never seen you so furious with anyone else before.” 

Lion remained quiet, staring at the grass floor as if its small, trampled blades had done him wrong. What did Finka know? Yes, this was about Doc. He never behaved like this towards someone else, usually preferring to live and let live. But something about the medic made him snap. He couldn’t stand him. Not after the wrong he had done him. 

“I know I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. Talk to him. He's such a friendly man, he really listens and wants to help in any way he can. Honestly I can't think of a reason to hate him. He's a just and sympathetic man. What have you done to deserve his hate?” Finka wondered out loud. 

“What have I done? What have _I_ done?! I have done nothing wrong. But your precious little medic is too stuck up his own ass to see that. So no, I won't talk to him. Because there's nothing to talk about.” Lion’s anger welled up again, and the Russian woman tried to hush him again. 

“But you two can't go on like this.” She shook her head as she stated this fact, her voice as calm as ever. They arrived at their tents. Finka stood in front of Lion, and even though she was smaller, she wasn’t intimidated by him in the least. She resolutely stared up at him, her strict, scarred face set. Her hands were on her hips as she looked at her partner expectantly. 

“Watch me.” Lion snapped. He brushed past her and entered his own tent without saying goodnight. Behind him he heard Finka huff before she walked away, probably in the direction of the canteen, where the other Russians were. Lion sat in the darkness of his tent, angry and unable to deal with all these feelings. 

It was not fair. 

Looking back he still had so many questions. So many things unanswered. Like what did he do, what _could_ he do? Was there ever a moment Doc had cared about him? Or had they always been nothing more than lovers without romantic feelings? And did even that get destroyed by Lion's decision in Africa? The only logic decision he could have made? It hadn’t been wrong. It hadn’t. But to Doc it had. How could Lion have changed to make it better? 

And would he? 

Lion snorted. 

Would he. 

He knew there was nothing he could change. Yet he regretted the things he didn't say. He resented how he had walked away. Back then he had felt more for the medic but he had never said it. He was afraid of his own feelings. And so they just remained vague associates that fucked from time to time. Lion wished he could change that, but Doc probably didn't feel the same way. He didn't then and he definitely didn't now. 

Lion still felt so much hate inside of him as he sat there, doing his best to calm down but failing miserably. He still couldn’t forgive Doc for the wrong he had done him. Doc blamed him, and he had never forgiven him either. Still, Lion had tried to grow from this. Every day was a new challenge. Because, like it or not, Doc was still a part of him. 

And he was still a part of Doc. 

His never-ending spiral of thoughts had made him wary, and finally Lion laid down on his sleeping bag. His eyes fluttered shut and his mind was oddly empty as he drifted off to sleep. 

 

\-- 

“It's so nice to see Maxim again, you know? Haven't seen him in ages. I really missed our sparring sessions. And that Timur guy is nice too. And Alexsandr... well...” Finka rambled on and on about the Russian men she had recently met, and giggled softly. She was in a good mood after last night. 

Lion had woken her up extra early so she could replace his bandages before she went out. So that Doc didn't have to do it again. He was in her tent now and she was behind him, treating his wound much gentler than the other Frenchman had done yesterday. 

“And you’re telling me this because...?” Lion grumbled, annoyed. He just couldn’t be happy for Finka for some reason. Maybe it was because he was feeling a little bit lonely himself. Maybe. 

“Pff, what have you got stuck up your ass?” Finka snorted, hitting Lion on the head before she quietly added: “It would really help if you talked about it, you know. At least so I won't be stuck with your moody face.” 

“And why on earth should I do that?” The Frenchman groaned. 

“I just think it would solve your problems.” Finka simply shrugged as she finished up and motioned for the other to put his shirt back on. “In any way, whatever happened, I’m sure you’ll feel relieved if you talked about it.” 

“I don't need a therapist, thank you very much.” Lion said grumpily as he pulled his shirt over his head. With that he left the tent as Finka shook her head and watched him go. 

Lion walked through the camp towards the tent that functioned as their canteen. His face was set and he didn't look around himself to enjoy the lovely morning. Finka should keep her nose out of his business. What was she thinking, talking about Doc as if he was some kind of angel? Lion was probably the only one here who knew the truth about the man. That he was a soft bastard that cared way too much about life to see reason. 

On his way he walked past Ash's tent and heard a loud, heated argument between the American woman and Doc. He immediately recognised his voice, but didn't bother to listen what they were discussing. The more he avoided the medic, the better. His path took him past the medical tent as well, and expecting it to be empty, Lion glimpsed inside. 

But it wasn’t empty. 

Jäger was sitting up in his bed, looking much better than he had done yesterday. On small plastic seats placed around his bed were Ying and Thermite, visiting the patient as if he were a civilian in a normal hospital. They were talking softly and Lion couldn’t make out the words. It looked cosy in there though and Jäger seemed to appreciate the company a lot, as a gentle smile could be seen on his face. 

Lion cocked an eyebrow. Why would they visit him? It wasn’t like Jäger had died... 

He continued on, walking past Smoke and Buck who were carrying rifles and were talking animatedly. It looked like they were going to the small range inside the camp. Lion didn't look at them when they walked past, and didn't greet them either. Behind his back he heard them whisper quietly as he had walked past. He rolled his eyes but didn't call them out. 

Another day in this carnival of souls. 

Finally he arrived in the canteen, where the three Russian men were already having their breakfasts. They talked loudly in their own language and laughed so much, they were giving Lion a headache. He got his breakfast and sat down at an empty table with his back facing the Russians and without greeting them. At one point the conversation behind him got so loud, that Lion turned around in his seat. 

“Do you mind?” His voice thundered angrily, and the Russians shut up to look at him incredulously. The other staff inside the canteen also looked his way. The whole tent was silent for a moment before the Russians just continued talking and laughing in their own language, at the same volume, just to spite Lion. 

The Frenchman got up from his seat and approached their table angrily. 

“You’ve got a problem, mister Flament?” Tachanka mockingly asked. The three Russians laughed, making the Frenchman only angrier. 

“He’s got a problem with our Doc, that’s for sure.” Kapkan sniggered in response, and when Glaz gave him a questioning look he added: “Did you not hear what happened before we arrived? Poor bastard got himself hurt and didn’t even want to see Doc. Could’ve infected the whole camp. Thermite told me.” The hooded Russian said as he gestured at Lion. 

“He put us in danger!?” Tachanka roared, glaring at the Frenchman that still stood at their table with his fists clenched. 

“What’s wrong with Doc?” Glaz mused calmly, ignoring Tachanka’s outburst. “If there’s anyone here I’d trust with my life, it’s that man.” 

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Kapkan retorted, turning to the sniper. 

“You know what I mean.” Glaz waved his friend away. 

“Are you infected?” Tachanka asked Lion angrily, looking him up and down as if he’d actually mutated already. 

“Of course not, idiot.” Lion spat. 

“Idiot? You think you're too good for us eh?” Kapkan stared the Frenchman down. 

“I’ll tell you what, I-" Lion fumed angrily. He had enough of everyone, and especially of these Russians. He’ll tell them alright. But before he could even start, he was interrupted by Ash rushing in. 

“Lion. My tent. Now.” She ordered from the entrance, pointing at the CBRN operator and vanished immediately. The Russians snickered at him, and Lion gave the three of them another glare and an obscure gesture before he angrily strode off. He could do nothing but follow the temperamental American woman now that she had summoned him. He’d deal with these Russians later. 

He’d loved to wipe those smug smiles off their faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter felt all over the place, I was inspired by some songs and just let them guide me through this chapter. Music is a very important inspiration to me c: 
> 
> At the start of the chapter, Lion was listening to [Waste by Staind](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT33KXLQgZE), and after that to [All I Want by Staind](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7l6LSImDdS0). The text in italic are lyrics taken from the song [Snows of New York by Chris de Burgh](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjBLGXhKMp8), which have a great spiritual meaning to me. Besides these, I shamelessly used most of the lyrics of [Diary of a Deadman by Five Finger Death Punch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75hr17yS8oY) when Lion was angry and alone in his tent. 
> 
> Lion likes to listen to music of his teenage years, and honestly there were so many good choices... But in this fic I made him listen to Staind a lot. Hope you enjoyed c:


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Doc's POV
> 
> Longer chapter this time, please enjoy c:

They sat in the helicopter, flown by their pilot Jäger himself again as he had made a speedy recovery that was beyond everybody’s expectations. The bleeding wound that he had obtained on his thigh from his crash during the first mission was almost completely healed, and Doc was happy about his progress. The German had insisted on flying the team into the zone on their next mission, claiming _he_ was the pilot and wanted to support his teammates. Ash had refused firmly, but Doc had allowed him. Jäger was able to walk again without support, so there was really no reason to keep him strapped to a hospital bed if he wanted to help his fellows out on the field. 

And so the happy German sat in the pilot’s seat, navigating them to their objective: the heart of Truth or Consequences. Below them, vast acres of land flew past as the helicopter was on route to their objective of the cursed town. The shadow of the vehicle stretched out in front of them as the sun hung low on the horizon behind them, casting low shadows over the deserted land. 

The second mission had already started, not quite planned, only two days after the first one was finished. 

Time was of the essence. 

This was because Doc’s research hadn’t been in vain. He had discovered that a doctor whose investigation to the infection was in an advanced stadium, was rumoured to still be inside the zone. This very doctor, named doctor Mackintosh and a local to the area and a direct witness of the infection, could be their key to a solution. She might have knowledge, information, data, that could help their own investigation and could possibly end this madness. 

She might have a vaccine. 

Or so Doc had argued with Ash, who wasn’t so sure about the rumour. It was shady at best, that someone sane was still left inside the zone and working on a ground-breaking research. The French medic had spent the whole morning convincing Ash to send a team into the zone to retrieve and save this doctor so they could work together on a remedy. In the end Ash had given in, and had given the go-ahead for another expedition into the zone. 

Only, the medic hadn’t been so happy with the team the American commander put together for this mission. 

And neither was Lion. 

Both men sat on the bench inside of the moving helicopter, stoically looking out of their respective windows to avoid each other. Doc looked pissed off by the presence of the taller Frenchman, and Lion looked grumpy as he folded his arms and wished he hadn’t been so convinced to do some research inside of the zone. In the middle, between the two Frenchman, poor Finka was squeezed. The Russian woman rested her chin on her hand and sighed after she had made some fruitless attempts at making the two men talk to each other. 

Apart from the roaring of the helicopter’s blades, all was quiet inside the vehicle. 

Doc was grateful for Finka’s presence though, as she had implanted her nanobots in both Doc and Lion so they could profit from her boosts. Doc was curious in particular to see what the effects would feel like, and how they could contribute towards their effectiveness in the field. He wanted to see just how much difference the boost would make, so he could start monitoring Finka’s progress and health. 

After some time, when the sun had finally gone to light less unnatural parts of the world, the helicopter started to lose height. They were approaching their destination now and the team, geared up in yellow hazmat suits and oxygen masks, got ready to exit the vehicle. Once the helicopter was as close to the ground as it could get without landing, Lion jumped onto the cracked pavement below them. Finka followed behind him, and he supported her when her feet touched the ground, even though that wasn’t really necessary. Doc shook his head as he watched them, hoping this mission wasn’t going to turn out disastrous with the other Frenchman present. Then he too jumped out of the helicopter. 

With a salute to the team below him, Jäger flew off immediately. 

”Doctor Mackintosh is holed up in the serology lab, but external comms just went dark. Reach her location ASAP.” Thermite’s voice informed them through their comms. This ‘information’ could be incomplete or even false, since it was all just rumours. They might just find doctor Mackintosh dead or mutated in her own lab. Of course they didn’t know that for sure, so until that moment Doc was convinced to move on and find her soon. 

Before they set off, Lion started his drone and flew it into the air. The camp was connected to the feed of the drone, so they would be able to keep an eye on them. Thermite would keep them up to date of any enemies incoming, and the American man would also guide them through the zone to the place where doctor Mackintosh was rumoured to be. Once Lion’s drone was well in the air, the team started moving. 

They found themselves on a street, surrounded by abandoned vehicles. There were police cars as well as normal passenger cars, all crashed and burned from whatever the hell had taken place here. Lion and Finka moved ahead confidently, over to the large, yellowish building that stood in front of them and appeared to be some kind of hospital. Doc, on the other hand, walked slower and took some time to take in his surroundings. He hadn’t been inside the zone yet, and was only now experiencing first-hand what the CBRN specialists, Ash and himself had been studying for a while now. The infection. 

From behind one of the overturned vehicles that were scattered in the street, Doc heard murmuring. Someone was babbling to himself, incoherently and confusing. He looked ahead, at Finka and Lion, but the two were gradually advancing on to the main entrance and hadn’t seemed to notice the presence of a survivor. Doc decided to go and take a quick look, to see if he could get this person to safety. He walked around the vehicle and as he rounded the corner, he saw him. 

A man, covered in blood, who was fidgeting with his hands and trembling slightly. 

Doc took a deep breath and approached him. 

“Sir, you need to get out of he-…" Doc stopped short as the man in front of him seemed to go insane as soon as Doc addressed him. His voice grew louder as he continued to mumble, now mixed with screaming. On guard, Doc quickly shone his flashlight at the man’s face. There was foam at the corners of his mouth, and his pupils were so narrow, they could hardly be seen. Doc gulped. 

The light apparently angered him even more, for he now started to growl and groan. Then the man cowered for a moment and he seemed to be in excruciating pain before he recovered and started mutating. It all happened so fast, but at this moment Doc knew he had made a mistake. Sharp, black spikes started to protrude from his shoulders, and Doc staggered back, aiming his weapon at the civilian that was charging at him now. 

A single shot rang out through the night, piercing the man’s head. The monster fell to the ground immediately, and he spasmed for a moment before he lay completely still. Doc stared at the man with wide eyes. 

“Were you going for a hug, or what did you expect?” 

Doc looked up to find Lion a few feet away from him, still aiming down his sight with his gun trained on him, where he had just killed the grunt with one single headshot. His voice had been a sneer and he huffed, finally lowering his weapon. 

“Do try to keep up. We haven’t got all night.” Lion said haughtily, turning around as he lazily flung his gun on his shoulder. Doc watched him go angrily, frustrated at the fact he hadn’t been careful enough. He had let Lion save his life, and that on his own was humiliating enough. He quickly stepped over the body and followed the taller Frenchman into the building. 

Finka, crouched on the ground next to the entrance, gave them a worried look as they regrouped. “There’s a lot of those bastards in here. Shoot them on sight, preferably before they start mutating. That’s when it’s the easiest.” She said, more to Doc than to her partner, giving him instructions on their special enemy. 

Doc nodded at her, clutching his weapon. He didn’t like getting orders, even more so from new operators, but he had to admit they were specialists in this field. Even if one of them was an arrogant asshole... He decided to stick with Finka, as he trusted and tolerated her the most. 

The team of three moved inside, quickly dealing with the infected human beings they found inside the large hall. Doc found it hard to kill them at first, seeing as they still looked like humans so much before they mutated. It felt wrong, but Finka quietly reinsured him that if they didn’t kill the infected, the infected would kill them. Lion made up the rear behind them, shooting anything that wasn’t dead yet. 

They turned left at a large mural of the American flag, adorned with a bald eagle and US soldiers. Doc stared at it for a moment, feeling a mixture of feelings before they pushed on. Different enemies started to show up now, ones that hopped around on all fours and were surprisingly fast. Sharp spikes protruded from their backs and they were covered in slimy substances that exploded if they got too close. Doc quickly learned to deal with them first. 

Stalking from room to room, the team came upon a control room with a bright red button that would open the door leading into the rest of the hospital. They reloaded and took a moment to catch their breaths before Finka pressed the button. As soon as the doors opened, hellish growls could be heard before the infected themselves appeared. The team momentarily froze at the sight of them. 

“I’ve got multiple hostiles converging on your position.” Thermite’s worried voice rang through their comms at once. “Evos! Take them out!” 

The team immediately got ready, taking up defensive positions where they were held up in the control room. As the first enemies were sighted, gunfire sounded rapidly and echoed through the large building. Doc, being in the back of the room and mainly offering support fire, kept an eye on Finka and a rather reluctant one on Lion, who sat nearest to the door. If something were to happen to the bastard, he would be held responsible. Sadly. 

Their defence seemed to be going rather well, until Finka screamed out in pain. Lion immediately turned were he sat, worried eyes searching his partner and the source for her pain. Doc too turned his attention to her as soon as he could, dealing with some stray grunts that were left in the hallway. 

Finka was surrounded by black and red tendrils that seemed to have grown from the ground out of nowhere. She was trapped by them, and Doc immediately noticed a gap in her protective suit where the strange spikes had pierced it and her skin. In confusion she was desperately trying to get loose, which only made it worse as the spikes stung her, dangerously close to ripping her suit. 

Cursing, Lion turned back towards the hallway and shouted: “It’s one of those bitches!” He seemed to be searching for these ‘bitches’, his posture restless and his eyes trained down the sight of his gun. 

And in a whirlwind she appeared, a wild-looking, mutated woman. Her arms were elongated, ending in sharp black and red spikes, much like the ones tormenting Finka. Her red-glowing eyes and face were surrounded by similar, smaller spikes, which seemed to protrude right out of her head. She made strange noises that reminded Doc of a reptile warning the enemy they were in her territory. Doc watched in horror at the creature, wondering if this was indeed a human being, whereas Lion opened fire immediately. 

The creature screamed and tried to attack the Frenchman, but he emptied his magazine into her without any reluctance. The body took a lot of bullets, but finally she fell to the ground and the tendrils that had surrounded Finka, retracted. Doc caught her immediately as she fell, her footing unstable now she was freed. 

“Fucking rooters.” The Russian woman grunted, sounding calmer than Doc had expected and clutching at the wound on her arm. 

“Rooters?” Doc asked as he inspected the wound quickly. The tendril had only grazed her skin; it hadn’t penetrated fully and the medic was thankful for that. He immediately set to binding her arm so she wouldn’t get into contact with the contaminated air. 

“Yes, those bitches.” Lion spit, approaching his partner and looking at her worriedly. “Use your goddamn eyes, Gustave.” 

“I’m fine Olivier, I’m not dying. There’s no need to be so toxic.” Finka scolded him, giving him a stern look through the goggles of her gas mask. 

“You should watch your mouth, church boy.” Doc bit back, not letting the other Frenchman get away with humiliating him nor letting Finka defend him. He glared at the other man for a moment before he continued his attention to tying the bandage around Finka’s arm. 

Lion snorted. “The Americans filled you in on our enemies, right? So how are you not recognising them?” 

Doc sighed, trying his hardest to keep his patience with the man opposite of him. “These ‘Americans’ have names, Olivier. You’d do well to remember them if you’re planning to stay with us.” The warning tone in his voice was meant to sound threatening, and he caught the other Frenchman shooting a quick glance at him to see if he meant what he said or not. “And yes, I’ve seen the images of these hostiles. I’m just rather affected that these used to be innocent human beings.” 

“There he is again, the humanitarian pussy.” Lion laughed out loud. 

“There is nothing wrong with feeling bad for these assholes, Olivier.” Finka bit at her partner before she turned to Doc, who just finished dressing her wound. “But do kill them on sight. They’re dangerous, even if they used to be innocent people.” 

Doc gave only a nod as he released Finka’s arm, who tested her reflexes to see if the bandages didn’t limit her movements. She gave the medic a small smile as a sign of thanks before the team got up and dealt with the last grunts that staggered around, hopelessly lost. As the three made their way to the door they had opened what seemed like an hour ago, Thermite’s voice crackled to life in their ear pieces: 

“Hostiles down. Head for the serology lab.” 

He didn’t say anything else so the team reloaded their weapons and continued their way on to the next part of the building. The rooms looked very similar here as the previous parts they had just ventured through; cracked walls, broken doors and equipment scattered on the floor. They saw more and more of these black and red tendrils, which seemed to have simply appeared out of thin air and broke through floors and walls. Doc saw how Finka and Lion looked at them wonderingly, wanting to take a sample for their research. But he also knew they had orders to first check on the rumours and retrieve the package before they were allowed to focus on the black spikes. 

They dealt with a few more grunts that were scattered around the building before they abruptly exited the building and came to a courtyard. The three of them stood still for a moment, taking in the scene before them. 

More black spikes were scattered around here, but they were enormous – and had managed to overturn a large ambulance van, that lay on its side next to the huge objects in the middle of the courtyard. Some grunts walked among it, minding their own business and not seeing the intruders yet. Opposite the building they had just exited, lay the serology lab. There was a large gap in the wall on the outer side, as if something had smashed its way outside – or in. 

Without a word spoken, the three of them started making their way over to the building that seemed to loom over them in a foreboding way. They entered the deserted reception where one lamp overhead burned and gave off a white, eerie light. 

“The doc should be close by.” Thermite informed them through their comms, startling the team slightly in the silence of the reception area. Finka clicked her flashlight on and examined the inside of the building. They took the stairs to their left, quickly dealing with any enemies they encountered on their way to save the rumoured doctor Mackintosh. As they came to the top of the stairs, the room opposite of them was well-lit. Yet nothing moved or stirred inside of it. 

“Doctor Mackintosh?” Doc called into the nothingness, but after a moment they heard a faint groan as response. Finka turned to Doc with a hopeful glance, and the medic stepped forward into the serology lab. 

The doctor lay on the floor behind her desk, bleeding and clutching her side. Her other arm was in a sling and she looked tired, yet when she looked up at Doc, there was firm determination in her eyes. Doc rushed over to her immediately. 

“Package located. Secure her and prep for exfil.” Thermite’s voice rang through their comms once again. 

Crouching down beside the woman on the floor, Doc quickly checked her for any serious wounds while Finka and Lion secured the room and floor they found themselves on. 

“Doctor Mackintosh, my name is Gustave Kateb, medic of team Rainbow. We heard about your whereabouts and conducted a mission into the zone to find you. We’re here to extract you and bring you and your research to safety.” Doc informed her as he gently sat her down against her desk. 

The woman nodded at him. “You made it. Good.” Her breathing came with difficulty, but she smiled nonetheless. “Now help me recover my research so we can get the hell out of here.” 

“Right away-” Doc said, but was interrupted by Thermite’s voice ringing through their ear pieces. 

“You’ve got hostiles inbound. Protect the doctor at all costs.” 

Doc looked up and exchanged glances with his teammates. Finka swore and looked through the large gap in the wall, and sure enough hordes of infected were making their way to their position. The Russian woman anchored down that point, and Lion took position at the door to keep an eye on the stairs. Doc grabbed doctor Mackintosh’ shoulder. 

“Give us a moment, we’ll have this dealt with in no time.” He reassured her before he took his position at the window nearest the doctor. 

And, true to his words, the team dealt with the threat in to time. Finka took care of any hostiles trying to get through the gap, Lion defended the stairs and Doc dealt with the enemies trying to breach the windows. Finka boosted them several times with her nanobots at moments where they were threatened to be overrun. Their cooperation was like a well-oiled machine, with everybody watching each other’s backs without being asked to do so. Doc was almost starting to enjoy it. 

Almost. 

He covered Lion a little grudgingly as the other Frenchman reloaded, and their gazes met across the room. Doc didn’t flash him a smile, on the contrary, he kept his face neutral and his concentration on the corridor behind the other man. Somehow Doc wasn’t able to gauge Lion’s mood as he watched his face through the gas mask, he looked neither annoyed nor upset with Doc covering him. His face was empty, his eyes void of any expression. 

Doc returned his attention to his own position when Lion finished reloading his weapon. 

Gradually the force of the attack started to lessen, and the enemies quietened down. Thermite’s voice came in again when he had established the worst threat was over via the feed of Lion’s drone. “Get the doc to pathology and grab that research.” 

With a huff the team regrouped and reloaded their weapons before they picked up the doctor and made their way out of the destroyed building. They hurried down the stairs, as fast as the doc could walk, and came to the courtyard again. Without a second look around they rushed into the next building, following the instructions the doctor gave them. They had to get this over with as quick as they could, as all these enemies were draining their ammunition fast. And so, dealing with the last remaining grunts, the team made their way inside, keeping the doctor close. 

They rushed through a stark-white quarantine tunnel, their eyes trained on the other side of it. There was the door that would lead them through to the rest of the hospital, where they were to retrieve doctor Mackintosh’ research. 

As they left behind the horrifying courtyard and made their way to the other side, the doctor spoke up: “If that’s all we’re up against, we’ll be out of here in no time.” 

Finka looked over her shoulder upon hearing this remark. “I wouldn’t count on it, ma’am. This place is crawling with them.” 

“We’d be lucky to even find this research of yours.” Lion added with a snort from his position at the front of their pack. 

The doctor gave Doc, who walked next to her and was supporting her, a puzzled look. Doc returned it with a gentle smile. 

“Don’t worry, doctor. We’ll do our best.” He gave her a curt nod before they finally reached the door, and went inside the next part of the hospital. 

“All right. Secure that research, then get doctor Mackintosh to the exfil point.” Thermite instructed them. 

Doc was making to press on, but to his surprise Lion turned off his comm then. 

“As if. You two press on with the doctor, I’m getting a sample of this shit.” The tall Frenchman said, approaching one of the black and red spikes that had broken through the surface even here. He crouched down beside it and took the large backpack off his back. 

“We are to stay together, Olivier.” Finka warned him. 

“I’ll be fine, just go. We can’t waste any more time than we already have.” Lion said, shooting a subtle glance at Doc. The medic glared back. 

“Stop being so cocky, Olivier! It’s too dangerous!” Finka exclaimed. 

“Leave him, Finka. He’s right. We can’t waste time on useless things.” Doc told the Russian woman. This time it was his turn to give Lion a subtle glance. The effect was immediate: Lion’s jaw set and he glared at the medic, but didn’t say anything. 

“Fine! But I’m not dragging your body out of this shit hole! You’re way too heavy.” Finka threw her arms in the air in defeat, and finally followed Doc out of the lab they had entered. 

She continued to complain and wondered out loud why Lion, who usually followed his instructions like the bible during missions, would stray from their orders like this. Doc had a hunch, and it had to do with his presence, but he didn't speak his mind. 

The two of them, accompanied by doctor Mackintosh, arrived at yet another reception. They quickly crossed the large hall, avoiding the few grunts that staggered around the place and guided by the doctor, to a closed door. It was locked with a voice-activation system, but the doctor had that dealt with in no time. The door opened and Doc rushed inside with doctor Mackintosh, while Finka dealt with the enemies that were alarmed by their sudden presence. 

They made their way through broken halls, and even here the black and red stuff protruded from the ceilings, walls and floors. Doc tried not to pay it any mind as he navigated through broken offices and laboratories while the weight of the doctor’s small body was beginning to drag him down and tire him out. Finka was somewhere behind them, trying to keep up with her wounded arm and her task of defending their backs. 

They crashed into a small lab and doctor Mackintosh cried out: “I’ll need patient zero’s cell samples. Those ones, there.” 

She motioned over to a glass cabinet on the wall, and Doc’s heart started to beat faster. Not because of the physically tiredness that had taken a grip on his body, but because doctor Mackintosh had access to patient zero’s cell samples. If they researched these, they could have a vaccine within a week! Doc dropped the doctor in a safe zone and while Finka defended her, he approached the cabinet. It was locked, but it was nothing that would stop the dagger he retrieved from his pocket. The medic broke the lock with some force, opened the cabinet and took the sample. He showed them to the doctor, who nodded. Doc safely stowed the sample in one of the many pockets on his gear. 

“I’ll also need the injector. To build a vaccine.” The doctor told him as he returned to where he had left her with Finka. 

“Well, where is it?” Finka asked, her voice starting to sound impatient. 

“In a different lab, I’m afraid.’ Doctor Mackintosh replied. 

“Very well, let’s be quick.” Doc said, picking the doctor back up and giving the Russian woman an apologetic look. They immediately got going again, through the ruined offices and labs, onto the corridor and out into the main hall again. There Lion was waiting for them, looking as relaxed as ever. It took all of Doc’s willpower not to shake his head at the man’s behaviour. 

“Olivier! Why did you not come after us? Could’ve used your help.” Finka complained to him as they regrouped. 

“And risk you shooting me because you think I’m a stalking grunt? No thanks.” Lion shrugged. “We need to think of everyone’s safety, Lera.” 

Doc cocked an eyebrow at him, but Lion walked off in the direction of a similar door as the one they had just gone through, but one that was locked as well. 

“Did you get the sample?” Doc called after him. 

“Of course I did.” Lion answered haughtily without turning around and waving Doc’s question away as if it had been a stupid thing to ask. 

“He’s been acting so strange lately...” Finka said as she watched him walk away, more to herself than to the two doctors. 

Doc just snorted, his eyes too on Lion’s back. The idiot. 

The team started moving again, hopefully to the last destination before they could go to the evac point. This door opened on voice activation too, and the doctor cooperated well so they could get the job done quickly. Doc noticed she was getting tired, the small wounds on her body were taking their toll, and she probably hadn’t slept properly in days either. Thermite came in every now and then, warning of approaching hostiles. Finka and Lion did their best defending the doctor, who was still being supported by Doc. 

They came to another lab, and this time Lion broke its lock with his knife and retrieved the injector on doctor Mackintosh’ instructions. Once they had regrouped and shared their ammunition, the doctor shivered. 

“Now let’s get the hell out of here, I have work to do.” 

“Second that.” Thermite agreed with the doctor over their comms. “Helo’s inbound.” 

And so the team returned to the hall, being guided by Thermite who led them to the extraction zone. They were really rushing now, having been in the zone for long enough already. The doctor’s feet slipped underneath her weight from time to time, and Doc had to catch her and encourage her to go on. The doctor wasn’t complaining though, and followed the team’s instructions bravely and obediently. She had been stuck in this shit for so long, Doc understood she wanted to get the hell out of here. Lion, who was leading the pack, looked back at them from time to time. Doc wondered if this was to see if they were still here, or to see if he had lost them yet. 

They hurried through all kinds of offices, halls and labs, but the team didn’t pay much attention to their surroundings. That was, until they walked through a hall that could only belong to the maternity units, where new mums were helped to bring their baby into this world. The walls were painted in all kinds of bright colours, but mostly pink, and they were adorned with cute little painted animals. Doc hadn’t noticed it at first, until Lion in front of him slowed down his pace and vaguely looked around him. 

“Is something the matter, Olivier? Enemies?” Finka had noticed it too, and was on her guard immediately. She raised her pistol and peeked inside one of the adjacent offices. The place was oddly quiet, especially seeing as these halls would normally see several new-born babies a day, their first cries echoing against the walls. Now, there was nothing. 

Lion stopped fully and half turned towards his team. His eyes were empty, and he looked like he had seen a ghost. His broad shoulders had slumped, his strong arms hanging by his side uselessly. 

“Nothing, it’s nothing.” He said softly. His eyes were cast in their direction, but Doc didn’t think he was looking at them. His sad gaze was going right through them, and Doc alone knew why the other Frenchman suddenly felt melancholic. 

These halls reminded him of his own child, whose birth he had not even been able to witness. He hadn’t been there when the mother first held the baby, hadn’t been there to hear its first cries, hadn’t been there to support his ex-girlfriend. Nor had he been able to give it its first bath, hear its first words, see it take its first steps... 

Yes, Doc knew of Lion’s past. But he had always been distant on the rare occasions when he did talk about his previous life, and Doc had never known how deep his grief went. After all, they had never been as personally engaged as people in a relationship were. He had just used Lion as a physical outlet for stress and frustrations, and so had Lion. Doc had never given Lion’s life a second thought, had never wondered about the way he felt about it all. Their relationship - if one could even label it as a ‘relationship’ - hadn’t been built up that way. But now Doc wondered if it could have been any different... 

“Then what are we waiting for?” Doctor Mackintosh broke the silence, impatient and tired. 

Doc woke up from his own day dreaming to find Lion’s eyes had managed to find his own, and he was captured by them at once. The sadness, the pain, the regret, the remorse Doc could see in them... The strength of Lion’s emotions threatened to swallow him whole as well. Was Lion really living in this agony? 

The moment lasted only a short time, though, as neither of the women present knew what was going on. 

“Exactly. Let’s press on.” Finka said firmly, nudging Lion in the direction they had been going. 

“Yes, let’s press on.” Lion repeated, tightening the grip on his gun. He resumed his defensive stance and his moment of weakness was gone in the blink of an eye, as if it never happened. He returned his attention to the direction they had been going in, and started striding on confidently. Doc watched him go, unsure of how to feel. 

Suddenly their radios crackled to life again, and this time it was their pilot Jäger making contact: “I am inbound to your location. Be ready.” 

They quickly resumed their way, leaving the maternity halls behind them and going through the next door. They were immediately overrun by enemies, and Doc had to stop escorting doctor Mackintosh for a moment to join his teammates in fighting off the hostiles. 

Grunts attacked them from all sides, with the occasional breacher jumping its way through their ranks and threatening to take all of the operators out at once. Finka boosted them once more with the nanobots, but she warned them that she didn’t have many boosts left. Doc gave each of them, doctor Mackintosh and himself a shot with his stim pistol so they could at least keep standing as a seemingly endless stream of enemies assaulted them. 

It was as if the zone didn’t allow them to leave. 

“There are too many hostiles. You will need to clear the helipad so I can land.” Jäger informed them from somewhere above them in the sky. 

“We’re working on it, fly boy!” Lion shouted, switching to his pistol as his gun was completely empty. He fired a few shots, flung his knife out and dealt with three infected at once with a few quick, well-aimed stabs. 

“Shit!” Finka swore, pushing back the enemies with the butt of her rifle. “This won’t do!” 

Thermite’s voice came in, sounding rather stressed: “This won’t stop ‘till you’re in the air! Get to the helipad, move it!” 

Doc swore under his breath, looking back at doctor Mackintosh. She was going to prove very useful later, back in the camp, but at the moment she was dragging them down. 

“Lion.” Doc called to get the other Frenchman’s attention; the man just finished off a few grunts with his knife before he turned to look at Doc. His gloves and suit were covered in dark blood, and his face was murderous. The medic shivered slightly when he saw him that way, although he wasn’t exactly sure why. “Take this.” 

Lion caught Doc’s gun mid-air, and as he reaffirmed his grip on it, he gave Doc a questioning look. Doc took his pistol out of his holster, held it in the air as if to show Lion his plan and picked up the doctor. 

“Let’s get moving!” Doc called, holding his pistol out in front of him and the doctor protectively behind him. Lion and Finka followed the order at once, and together they made their way through the swarm of hostiles. Their going was hard. Their feet ached, their muscles were tired and their ammunition was dangerously low now. And still they pressed on, their will to live and make it out of this shithole stronger than the enemy. 

With the directions of the doctor, they finally made it outside. They breached through the door and looked at the sky for a moment, so happy they were to be outside of the hospital. Millions of stars were visible in the dark night sky, and the moon looked down on them as if it was intently watching the scene unfold underneath it. Would the humans make it? 

“LZ’s crawling with roaches. Clear a spot for Jäger!” Thermite’s voice woke them from their momentary peace. 

Then gunfire sounded again, but now the helipad was visible, so the team fought with renewed vigour. And slowly, gradually, they reached the landing zone and cleared it of enemies with their last bullets. The wave of enemies finally seemed to quiet down, and the operators allowed themselves a moment to catch their breaths. 

“LZ’s clear. Jäger, get in there and bring ‘em home.” Thermite sounded as tired as the operators in the zone felt. 

Within a few seconds, Jäger’s helicopter came into view, and Doc had never been so happy to see the quiet German. 

“Nice shooting,” Jäger commented, a hint of laughter in his voice. “Now let’s get out of here.” 

The helicopter landed, and the team got on as quick as they could, making sure doctor Mackintosh got on safely, too. Within seconds they were in the air again, leaving behind the dangerous infected zone. 

Doc immediately set to making the doctor as comfortable as possible on the bench of the helicopter while Jäger flew them back to safety. Finka helped him with her medical knowledge, and together they made sure doctor Mackintosh wasn’t in pain. Doc checked her and Finka for injuries, but didn’t find any that were life-threatening. Relieved, he sat back on the floor with his back against the bench and looked into the helicopter. 

Finka had taken the only empty seat available next to doctor Mackintosh, as the doctor was lying down and taking up all the space. Doc didn’t mind. 

In the open door of the helicopter, Lion stood all by himself. He held himself in place with one hand on the wall, and the other on the railing above the door. He looked out onto the fields that rushed by underneath him, his gaze on the horizon and in the direction of the accursed zone they had just fled. Doc realised he hadn’t checked him for injuries yet, so he pushed himself up with some difficulty. His muscles had grown stiff already and he slowly approached the taller Frenchman’s back. 

Lion turned to him before Doc could ask him how he felt. 

“A good gun, thank you for lending it to me. Probably saved our lives out there. I’m afraid I’ve used all your spare ammo though.” Lion said as he returned Doc’s gun to him. His voice was quiet, the expression on his face tired. His eyes searched for Doc’s, like they had done in the maternity hall. It seemed ages ago now. 

Doc shrugged as he took the offered rifle, too exhausted to be surprised at being thanked by the taller man. “Do you feel any pain?” 

“I’m fine.” Was Lion’s direct and final answer, before he returned his attention to the world that passed by below their helicopter. It signaled their short conversation was over, and Doc returned to where he had sat before. He figured he shouldn’t examine Lion yet, at least not here. He had to make sure he was as fine as he tried to make Doc believe, though, but that would come later. 

For now, they were safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you played Outbreak, you may have noticed I didn't put the fights against the special enemies (apart from the rooter) in this chapter . This is sadly because the chapter was getting too long, so I had to leave it out... My apologies ^^;
> 
> As mentioned before, this fic is my part of a trade with the awesome Sunstark, whose art has been a great inspiration for this chapter! Check it out c:  
> \- [The scene where the team is inside the helicopter and on their way to the zone (imagine Finka in between them, poor woman <3)](https://www.instagram.com/p/BlmjUWNhXg2/)  
> \- [When Lion shot the first grunt Doc encountered, and is telling him to stay out of trouble (oh Lion, you brat)](https://www.instagram.com/p/BwOSnK0Fxq0/)  
> \- [Just this art in general, all suited up and concentrated on their mission. It's gorgeous <3](https://www.instagram.com/p/BksqkDuB1Jy/)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lion's POV - please enjoy c:

Hereford Base wasn’t all that bad after the primitive conditions in their camp back in Truth or Consequences, Lion decided. He shared a spacious, clean sleeping quarter with his partner Finka, there were proper training facilities, a large workshop and the canteen served products that could actually be labelled as ‘food’, in comparison to the shit they had gotten in New Mexico. Lion quite liked the place already, in all the quiet of the English countryside. 

Sadly though, inside the facilities it was more often busy and hectic, which was quite a contrast to the tranquillity of their location. There were many operators in team Rainbow, some shy, some loud, and Lion could already tell he didn't like half of them. There were the proud and stoic English SAS operators, the ignorant American FBI SWAT, the Russian Spetsnaz who only talked in their own language and didn't seem to give a fuck about what the others thought of them, the boring and serious German GSG9, and not to speak of all the smaller units. The overly polite Canadians, the SEALS who were even more ignorant than the FBI SWAT, the incalculable Brazilians, the distant Japanese, the pretty Spanish people, the quiet Cantonese, the loud Polish, and finally, the strange Koreans. 

Yeah, Lion didn't like them very much. 

Then there were the other French operators from Lion’s old unit, GIGN. He wasn’t going to waste any more thoughts on Doc as he didn't want to think of the man more than necessary. There was the woman, Twitch, who seemed nice and he had actually talked to her about drones several times, but he also noticed she avoided him if she could. Maybe it was because of that incident where he had talked shit about her drone right in her face. Maybe. Who knows. 

Then there was Rook, a young man who had the energy of a working horse and the enthusiasm of a child. In the beginning he had rambled on and on to Lion, trying to make friends, but when Lion had sneered at him, he had given up. Now he avoided Lion like Twitch did, and didn't so much as look at him or greet him. Lion couldn’t care less. The last GIGN member was different though. Montagne was a just man who seemed to have perfect control of his life and had everything on track. Lion envied him, wanted to be like him, and in the process found himself befriending the gentle giant. No matter how rude or arrogant Lion sometimes behaved around him, Montagne would smile gently and would subtly correct him, as a friend would. Lion didn't understand why the large Frenchman put up with him, but he was happy there was at least one person in this chaotic base he got along with. 

Because Finka, well... They still talked and she still supported him, but she had really found her place amongst the Russians now. She was extremely happy here and seemed to be right at home when the five of them sat on the large sofas in the living room, talking and laughing loudly in their own language. Lion could see the way she looked at the biggest of them, Tachanka, and when they were alone, he was the only one she talked about. She was in love, but still Lion couldn’t be happy for her. 

He was jealous. 

Jealous and lonely. Yet he would never admit to that. 

Still, for the time being, Lion was happy operation Chimera was over. It meant he didn't have to live so uncomfortably close to the man he used to have a relationship with anymore, no matter how cold and distant it had been. The retrieval of the mysterious sample from the zone had turned out to be a great help towards their research. Finka and he had finally been able to successfully determine the threat, and because of this the team could act accordingly. Besides that, doctor Mackintosh' help had also proven valuable to create a vaccine. She and Doc had spent days in the hospital tent, testing, calculating and measuring, brainstorming until they had found a cure. After several days of not seeing the pair, they suddenly appeared from the tent. Deprived of food and sleep, they immediately marched to Ash' tent to bring the good news. 

After that things had gone fast. With all researches combined, the team was able to find a cure as well as the cause of all this mayhem. The two doctors started treating people while another team, consisting of Tachanka, Kapkan and Smoke, was sent into the zone to extract the cause: a Soviet-era capsule. And after weeks of being in the dark, they had finally been able to put a stop to the madness once the object was removed from the scene. The capsule would be transferred to a lab where it would be thoroughly researched, but the operators of team Rainbow would never see it again. 

The treating of people was a slow process, but slowly the infected were cured. At some point doctor Mackintosh told Ash she didn't need the help of team Rainbow anymore. Things were gradually turning back to normal, and federal aid was coming in. The team was thanked and told to go home. 

And thus they had returned to England, where team Rainbow was based. 

It had taken Lion a while to get used to the local life, the change of weather, the greasy food and the English people, but he was determined to stay here. He found it difficult to get along with the others and he was a loner, yes, but this special force was like a dream come true. Besides that, he now had a goal in his life, which was to exterminate these White Masks, who were the main target of team Rainbow. Lion didn't plan on leaving any time soon. 

 

\-- 

It was an early Sunday morning, and the base was quiet. Some early birds were already eating their breakfasts, tinkering away in the workshop or polishing their gear, but apart from that the place was peacefully quiet. 

Lion had already left an hour ago in the small, worn-down car he had bought cheap several weeks ago from a local who looked happy to be rid of it. It was a little silver Vauxhall Corsa C, and Lion soon found out why the previous owner had been so glad to see it go. At the front, on the driver's side, there was a massive leak that got the driver's feet wet if it rained. Still, this was what he should’ve expected for such a low price, so the Frenchman didn't go back to complain. 

The Holy Mass started at 9.30 AM at Belmont Abbey, a catholic Benedictine monastery just outside of Hereford, and he was on his way there. When Lion moved from New Mexico to England, he had looked around the town for a suitable church to attend, and had ended up here. The large abbey was located in the middle of Herefordshire's peaceful nature, on a small hilltop overlooking Hereford on one side, and the hills of Wales on the other. Really there couldn’t be a more beautiful place for a monastery like this, and he had felt right at home the moment he set foot on its grounds. 

The monks were friendly, understanding and quiet people who didn't ask questions. All that mattered to them was their shared love for God and the bible, and indeed they welcomed Lion like a brother. Lion was shown around the large abbey, told when the monks held their masses and at the end of the tour, he prayed with them. It all felt so right, that Lion asked if he could help the abbey and volunteer for them. The monks were very happy with the offer and for the first time in weeks, Lion felt like he belonged. 

And so he had been attending the masses every Sunday, and every Wednesday evening if he could squeeze it into his schedule. This Sunday wasn’t any different as Lion sat on one of the simple wooden benches listening to the priest. He wore his best Sunday clothes and blended in surprisingly well with the local people, although they threw him curious glances from time to time. Strangers were rare here, and Lion’s height and broad shoulders drew quite some attention. After the service ended they would always approach him and chat to him over a cup of coffee or, preferably, tea. Somehow Lion felt he could really be himself in this place, and left behind his arrogant and haughty behaviour he always displayed at base. 

He told them he had moved here from France for a job, never telling which exactly, and they were very interested to hear about his journey. It was completely made up, as these posh people wouldn’t appreciate a man who wanted an abortion for his first born, had been an alcohol and drugs addict, killed people and loved men. But this way the locals respected him and every next Sunday Lion saw them in church, they greeted him with their reserved English smiles. 

This morning was a very nice morning indeed, with the sun shining its warm yellow light through the stained-glass windows that were high up the walls. Lion followed the light with his eyes as the priest went on to his sermon. He watched how it fell into funny patterns on the opposite wall, peacefully and quiet. Lion let out a sigh, so relaxed he felt here at the abbey in comparison to his hectic life outside of it. He closed his eyes and tried not to think too much about _that_ life, and instead he tried to keep his attention on the words of the priest. 

His thoughts began to wander. In a church, Lion’s thoughts always seemed to be wide open and free, feeling as if this was the only place he didn't have to be ashamed of them. Which was funny, because there were so many people, religious people, who thought what he was doing is wrong. But not God. Lion felt in his heart that God loved him for who he was, as He did with all people, religious or not. And so Lion opened his mind to the presence he felt, and laid out his worry and sorrow. 

He didn’t see Doc as often anymore now that they were in Hereford Base, and so they didn’t argue as much anymore either. And even though that was a good thing, Lion admitted with pain in his heart that he missed the other man – and had missed him for longer than he was aware of, even before he joined team Rainbow. He hated him for blaming the deaths of his colleagues on Lion, and for his behaviour afterwards, but Lion couldn’t forget what they had had. He couldn’t ignore the feelings he had held for Doc, and still felt in a strange and painful way, even though they would definitely never be answered by the medic. 

Lion hated how things had turned out and wondered how different it all could have been. If the incident in Africa hadn’t happened. But it had, and Lion still stood behind the decision he had made back then. It had been the best call he could make, given the circumstances. He wasn't wrong. Doc was. 

But that made it all so much worse, and so much more complicated. 

When the time came to sing, everybody got up, including Lion, hastily, and he softly hummed along to the text the choir of monks sang. Their voices were heavy and sad, making the church visitors feel melancholic. With Lion's recent thoughts he found himself being swallowed by the grief he felt all of a sudden around him, and so he looked at the sunlight again to cheer himself up a bit; some sunlight always did wonders. 

The service went on for a while after that, and afterwards they had their usual teas and coffee. 

Quiet murmur now filled the church hall, and Lion picked up a cup of coffee from the lady behind the table. She gave him a gentle smile, and Lion turned around to find an empty seat at the small tables that were spread out at the back of the church. 

“Olivier.” A male voice called, and Lion turned in its direction. At one of the tables sat brother Ben, one of the elders that Lion had met the first time he came here. He was an interesting person to talk to, and over the weeks Lion had been attending this church, he had always had a little chat with him. Lion made his way over to where the monk sat and put his cup down on the table before taking a seat. 

“Good morning, brother Benjamin.” Lion greeted the other politely. 

“Morning Olivier,” the monk nodded with a smile and asked: “how are you?” 

The two men chatted about this and that for a while, sipping at their beverages before they decided to get a breath of fresh air. They exited the church and went out into the sun. Lion closed his eyes for a moment, both to shield them from the light and to enjoy its warmth fully. They wandered into the grounds, the gravel path they took surrounded by young, fresh grass that was still damp from the rain last night. Lion walked beside the robed monk in silence, hands behind his back, and slowly they distanced themselves from the large abbey. 

“Something weighs heavy on your mind.” The monk broke the silence that hung comfortably between them. Lion was immediately on guard, looking at brother Ben suspiciously. The man smiled sympathetically. “No need to worry, my son. You do not need to tell me if you do not want to.” 

Lion relaxed at his words and sighed. He ran a hand through his freshly washed locks and closed his eyes, the weight of the earth seeming to be on his shoulders and it was threatening to pull him down. “It's difficult.” Lion laughed despite himself, nervously, as brother Ben continued to regard him with a neutral expression. 

“I understand. I noticed during the service you were troubled, and I hope you will soon find some peace of mind.” The man nodded at him. 

“Thank you, brother.” Lion nodded back, although his words didn't make him feel any better about his current situation. The pair of them stopped walking and turned in the direction of the abbey to admire it in all its grandeur, looking beautifully lit in the light of the morning sun. 

“But a word of advice, Olivier.” The monk started, not tearing his gaze away from the short, square tower of the church. Lion turned towards him, regarding him watchfully. “Whatever you do, and whatever peril you're facing at the moment, remember this. Do not fight fire with fire, my son. You will only burn yourself.” 

The monk turned to look at Lion, and gave him a meaningful nod. 

Lion felt a shiver go up his spine, and he opened his mouth to reply but he didn't know what to say. The words spoken by the man beside him, so plainly clothed and simple, seemed to hold great value to him for some reason he couldn’t explain. Was this the answer? As a message from God himself, delivered to him by this monk? A divine sign? 

Did he really have to give up fighting? 

But, what good would that do? Doc would still scold him, as he had continued to do over the past weeks since they were back. What difference would it make if Lion stopped arguing with him? 

A little voice in his head told him that if he wanted to resolve things with the medic, the first thing he should do was to stop fighting him. 

And he did want to make it up to Doc. 

Right? It seemed logical. 

It was true that it hurt him to argue with Doc. It hurt him when they insulted each other in yet another heated argument. But their quarrels seemed never ending. Lion was positively sure Doc hated his guts, and Lion, proud as he was, defended himself with foul words towards the medic, when really he didn’t mean all the things he said. Something had snapped inside of him on their mission into the Zone, back in Truth or Consequences. When he had been leading their team and lost himself in his emotions when they reached the maternity ward. The look Doc had given him then had rooted him to the ground, and eventually brought him back to the present. The medic understood him better than either of them cared to admit, and right at that moment Lion had felt a powerful, yearning feeling. 

“Thank you, brother Benjamin.” Lion said softly, bowing his head to the man and he made to walk away. The conversation was over, and Lion had many things to ponder over privately. 

“God be with you, Olivier.” Brother Ben gently called after him, but Lion didn't turn around anymore. He briskly walked over the grounds back to the car park, opened his car and got in. 

He needed to think. 

 

\-- 

Lion returned to the base around lunchtime, and after having parked his car in its assigned bay, he made his way to the entrance. And right there, at the door, was the reason for all his troubles: Doc. 

The medic was scolding one of the Germans – what’s his face, Bandit, Lion remembered – for smoking a cigarette. He pleaded for Bandit's health as well as the state of the environment, but the words seemed to enter Bandit's ears on one side, and leave on the other. His gaze was curiously blank, his eyes red, and Lion recognised the symptoms at once: Bandit was high, and Doc's words probably didn't even reach him. Lion wondered at it, because Doc surely knew these symptoms as well, being a medic and all. 

As Lion walked up to the pair and tried to get inside without speaking a word to the both of them, Doc turned around and noticed him. He looked him and up and down, an eyebrow cocked at his appearance. 

“Oh, here’s our church boy. All dressed up in his fancy Sunday clothes as well. Maybe you, man of God, could talk some sense into this lunatic?” Doc teased him, a smug smile playing on his lips. 

Lion glared at the medic, his good Sunday mood and his hopes at making it up to this man ruined in one single moment. He glanced at the German behind him, who stared back dully. Before Lion started to rant at Doc, he remembered what brother Ben had advised him. He took a deep breath, looked back at Doc, gave a shrug and continued his way. He left Doc behind outside who, unbeknownst to him, gaped after him. 

It had been hard, extremely hard to keep his face neutral and not bite a remark at Doc for making fun of him. But he had managed it, if only just. Because as soon as he got inside, Lion raced up to his sleeping quarters, locked himself in his room and threw himself on his bed. He planted his face in his pillow and shouted out all of his frustrations, the sound muffled by the pillow. 

How could he stop fighting Doc, if all Doc wanted was to fight? How could he let him get away with his sneering remarks, his hurtful comments and his judging glances? How could he not swear back at the medic when he was teasing him? How could he let it go? 

Lion sat up in his bed, and looked at the cross that hung above his door. 

_Please God, give me the strength._ Lion repeated this line over and over inside of his head, until he realised he was saying it out loud. Shouting, almost. He tore his eyes off the symbol and held his head in his hands, tearing at his hair. What was he to do? 

In his raging hopelessness, he remembered what he always prayed for: the patience to accept the things he couldn't change. Would that be all he needed? 

Patience? 

 

\-- 

The days crept by agonisingly slowly, in which Lion found himself avoiding Doc the best he could in the halls of Hereford Base. Every spare moment he had, no matter how short it was between trainings and missions, he drove to the abbey to volunteer. Mowing the grass, tending the gardens, helping prepare for a service; Lion did it all. He worked his ass off, trying to keep himself occupied with keeping the church in the best shape and praying together with the monks. It calmed him to be amongst the monks, and when Lion returned to base, he was relaxed again. 

And if Doc and he did meet and come to an argument, Lion would do his best to keep out of it. And every day he got a little better at it. Indeed, he let Doc tease him and call him names without talking back. He didn’t even raise his voice against the man, but instead sucked it up until it appeared Doc had used every swear word known to him to curse at him and fell silent, regarding Lion suspiciously. 

Lion hoped he would one day realise why he wasn’t fighting it anymore. He hoped Doc would see. 

But for now, that day seemed far away still. 

One morning, Lion sat in the workshop, simply minding his own business and working on his drone. Montagne had kept him company for an hour, and Lion had appreciated that. The tall Frenchman talked to him as if he was a normal human being, and didn’t mind being seen in his presence, in comparison to the others. Really Lion should be happy the man was sticking to him, but he still behaved like an asshole to Montagne. This was all due to his pent-up frustrations regarding Doc, of course, because the large man definitely didn’t deserve to be treated like this. Luckily he had a thick skin, and he didn’t let Lion push him away. Lion silently appreciated that a lot. 

Now the man had left to train the latest batch of recruits, a ‘hopeless bunch of boys’, according to him, at which Lion had snorted. So now he sat alone in the middle of the workshop, even though he was surrounded by people who sat as far away as possible. Mute and Thatcher were here, Twitch, Kapkan (who wasn’t actually working, but sitting back in his seat and reading a book with his muddy boots up his desk – Lion grimaced), Jäger, and Echo and Vigil – yes, Lion had gotten better in remembering their names, although he still only knew their operator aliases and not their real names. He didn’t actually talk much to any of them, so their first names vanished from his mind like leaves in the wind. 

Jäger and Twitch sat nearest to him, and they were talking softly so no one would overhear them. Lion really did his best not to listen in on their conversation, but he couldn’t help catching a few words... Or their whole conversation, for that matter. He tried to keep his eyes on the soldering iron in his hand, but found his gaze slipping over to the pair of them when he heard a familiar name. 

“How was your visit to Doc? I remember you were very worried...” Twitch asked gently, and the question made Jäger squirm visually. 

“Uh, yeah there’s nothing wrong with me.” Jäger stumbled, waving his hand awkwardly. “Was just the stress.” 

Twitch nodded thoughtfully, regarding her friend closely. “But there’s something else?” She asked after a slight pause. How do women just know such things? To Lion Jäger just looked like his usual awkward self. 

The German’s face flushed bright red and he averted his eyes from the woman next to him. “N-no, there’s nothing.” 

Twitch giggled and patted Jäger on the shoulder. “Did you get hard?” She asked so silently, Lion almost didn’t hear it. 

“Y-yeah.” Jäger’s answer was muffled and he sounded so embarrassed, like he could sink right through the floor. 

Twitch laughed again, but gave the German a sympathetic smile. “Marius, it’s alright. That’s normal. Doc is used to it. He performs prostate exams more often around here, you’re not the only one. He’s our doctor, you know.” She said with a wink. 

“Still embarrassing as fuck.” Jäger said through gritted teeth without looking at her. 

Lion’s knuckles were white as he held the soldering iron way too tightly. He was grinding his teeth; his jaws were set. His eyes were boring holes into Jäger’s back. Every muscle was tensed. 

Of course the German couldn’t help getting hard during such an examination. And of course Twitch was right, Doc probably did rectal examinations on every man here. It was out of proportion for Lion to get mad over this, to get jealous. And yet he did. 

Cursing out loud, Lion suddenly jumped up and dropped the soldering iron. Because of the distraction he had burned his hand, and in reaction he dropped the tool. It fell to the floor with a loud crash, and everyone present looked his way in alarm. 

Lion was still frustrated and angry when he waved his hand to cool it, sucking on the burn he had created. 

“Olivier! Are you alright?” Twitch jumped up immediately, rushing over to him to examine the burn. “You need to cool that, quickly!” 

“Did you throw expensive stuff around in France too, Lion?” Thatcher approached the pair, picking up the soldering iron with a disapproving look on his face. 

“Did you always stick your giant nose in other people’s business, Thatcher?” Lion sneered back at him, cradling his painful hand in his other hand. 

“Olivier, don’t...” Twitch started, tugging at Lion’s arm to drag him away from the older operator in order to get his burn cooled. But Lion didn’t budge. 

Thatcher’s disapproval turned to anger. “It’s about time you young people learned who you’re speaking to! Especially you, frog, could show a little more respect to your elders.” 

“To a fossil like you? Why don’t you just retire already, old man! Clear the road for a newer generation of ops. Admit it. You’re written off.” Lion snorted haughtily. 

“What was that, you fucking plonker?” Thatcher roared, taking a step towards Lion threateningly. Lion took a step forward too as Twitch still tugged at his arm to hold him back. She quietly pleaded him to stop, and at this point Mute also rushed towards them and held Thatcher back as the Englishman turned angrier and angrier. The other ops watched with bated breaths; Jäger worriedly, Echo disinterested and Vigil quietly while Kapkan still sat back in his seat with his feet on the desk, watching the scene unfold before him as if he was watching an interesting action movie. 

Despite Twitch holding him back, Lion leaned in even closer. “You’re just an old fucktard, that’s what you are.” He said calmly, not bothering to hide the arrogant, smug smirk on his face. 

Thatcher then turned furious, slipped from Mute’s grip and landed his fist on Lion’s face with incredible speed. Lion staggered backwards, and luckily Twitch was still there to catch him. 

“Mike!” She shrieked, not able to believe the usually so collected man had lost his patience and had punched Lion. Even though it was somewhat deserved, of course. 

Thatcher’s chest was heaving, and he looked like he could land another good few punches if he wanted to. 

“What the fuck!?” Lion shouted, feeling his lip as it bled before he threw a filthy glance at the old man. He had underestimated him. 

“To be honest, he was asking for it.” Mute shrugged from where he was still attempting to hold Thatcher back. 

“Mark!?” Twitch shrieked again in disbelief, looking between the two Englishman that stood before her. 

Over in his corner, Kapkan laughed hysterically. Lion swore in his own language as he bled quite heavily. His hand was already covered in his own blood, and he made to rush towards the old man and show him a thing or two. This time he was held back by both Twitch and Jäger, who had jumped up to help his friend. Together they pushed a seething Lion backwards towards the exit, while the Frenchman continued to swear and shout at Thatcher. Mute was in the process of calming him down. Echo had already gone back to his work, Vigil blinked at the little trail of blood that was on the floor and Kapkan was frantically typing away on his phone, no doubt letting his friends know about this incident. 

Once they finally got Lion through the door, Twitch scolded him and Jäger stood beside her awkwardly, not quite knowing what he was doing there. They managed to calm him down somewhat, but when Twitch mentioned he should go to Doc to get his burn and the wound on his lip checked up, he had another fit of anger. 

Jäger and Twitch ended up escorting Lion to Doc’s office, even though the stoic Frenchman resisted with all his might. He really didn’t want to see Doc for this, but Twitch and Jäger left him no choice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lion’s character development has started but it’s so easy to fall back into old patterns... Poor boi. His character for this chapter and the next was inspired by this song: [ Alec Benjamin - Let Me Down Slowly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50VNCymT-Cs) <3 
> 
> Also yes, I know according to the lore, Thatcher punched Lion during a training exercise. But for this story the workshop worked better. I had a lot of fun with that scene, hope you did as well (x (Also, I do not share Lion's opinion on the other ops, it was just to show how he's isolating himself from them all – I find other countries and cultures extremely fascinating!)
> 
> Thank you to everyone for leaving kudos and comments! I appreciate it a lot! C:


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Doc's PoV

“You should’ve cooled it immediately.” Doc lectured the idiot that stood in his office and was holding his burned hand under the running tap. The medic watched him like a hawk while the soft stream of lukewarm water fell onto his hand, and he made sure the man wouldn’t pull it away. He was obviously frustrated at being here and having to stand there for 20 minutes, just letting water run over the burn. 

Lion rolled his eyes and stared at the ceiling while he said nothing, just grudgingly holding his hand out under the tap. 

“I told him that.” Twitch, who still stood at the door with her arms crossed over her chest, remarked sourly. She watched Lion with the same expression as Doc. 

A loathing one. 

“And you should’ve refrained from teasing Thatcher. Everyone knows the old man can beat your ass in under a minute.” Doc tried not to grin as he made the sneering remark. That’s gotta hurt the bastard. 

Still, Lion didn't flinch. 

“Told him that too.” Twitch butted in again, dismissively waving her small hand at the taller Frenchman in the room. Said man still stood staring at the ceiling stubbornly, not saying a word while his colleagues complained to him, his mouth forming a thin line. 

“Thank you, Emanuele, I think I’ll manage from here.” Doc told her bluntly, when he suddenly had enough of her presence. He gave her a piercing glance before he returned his attention to the idiot next to him. Twitch huffed and left without another word, slamming the door close behind her. 

They stood in silence for a while, the only sound in the room coming from Doc's old computer and the running tap. The tension between the two men was so thick, one could almost touch it. But Doc noticed something strange. Or better yet, he had been noticing something strange lately. Lion was acting differently. He didn't have a fit of anger anymore when Doc tried to lure him out of his shell for a heated argument. The other Frenchman was oddly quiet lately, and Doc was almost starting to miss his cocky behaviour. He didn't like this change in Lion, and he didn't know what to make of it. 

Doc decided to try and lure him into one of his old angry fits again. He was feeling like a little argument again. It had been a while. 

“I honestly don't know why you’re still here. They _hate_ you.” Doc put a lot of emphasis on the verb, wanting it to hurt Lion. “You’ve seen it today. You really had that punch coming.” 

Lion remained silent; his gaze stoically averted from Doc. 

“Why so quiet? You’ve been hanging out with those monks a lot lately, haven't you? Did they teach you to have patience? About time, although I didn't think anything could get through that thick skull of yours.” Doc continued, a smirk starting to spread on his face. He was going to try that patience and lure Lion out. Have him have another one of his angry outbursts. It’d be funny. 

But Lion continued to ignore his words. 

“And I wonder, why don't you just stay there, with those monks of yours? Just go work there. We don't need you here.” Doc bit, his teasing turning to a venomous snarl as Lion wasn't responding the way he hoped. It was low to say these things, yes. Doc was aware of that. But he just hated Lion's guts. 

He saw how Lion swallowed, his Adam's apple moving in his throat for a short moment. Without looking at Doc, he finally spoke: “Are those 20 minutes over yet?” His voice was flat and devoid of any emotion. 

Doc stared at him for a moment, perplexed. 

Why wasn’t Lion fighting back? Why didn't he let him hate him? _Let me hate you, goddamnit._ Doc thought, but he kept his mouth shut tight, disproportionately angry with the quiet, calm man next to him. He was supposed to be exploding with rage! 

The medic looked at his watch. “No.” He snapped, before he left Lion alone and moved back to his desk. Lion nodded vaguely and continued to hold his burn under the running tap without complaining. Doc sat at his computer and started to do some paperwork, wanting to get away from the other man momentarily because his head couldn’t grasp the sudden change in him. 

Deciding that pondering over the other man in his room was a waste of time, Doc lost himself in his paperwork. He frantically tapped away on the keyboard, and soon half an hour had passed without his noticing. He had completely forgotten about Lion, who still stood at the tap tirelessly when Doc looked up from his screen to check on him. 

“That should be about right.” Doc said, an annoyed tone in his voice as he strode over to the sink and turned off the water abruptly. 

Lion blinked at him in surprise for a moment, apparently having been too caught up in his own thoughts. He flexed his hand a few times because it had gone cold under the continuous stream of water, even though the temperature hadn’t been freezing cold. Nevertheless Lion’s hand had been cooled for longer than necessary, so Doc threw a stark-white towel at him to dry off and warm his hand with. In the meantime, Doc rummaged in one of his drawers until he found the soothing cream he always used for not too severe burns like these. 

When Lion hadn’t so much as removed the towel from his painful hand, Doc grabbed it roughly and pulled it towards him. He held Lion's hand in one of his, the tube of cream in the other. He applied it to the burn, hearing Lion hiss softly at the sudden cold contact of the cream. “This'll soothe the pain for a while,” Doc said moodily as he flung the tube away and rubbed the cream in none too gently, “but you’ll feel it again after a while. It’ll leave a nice mark and in a few days your skin will begin to peel away. That’s normal with a burn like this. It could’ve been much worse so be happy you-" 

Doc looked up when he finished applying the cream, holding onto Lion's hand a moment longer and finding the man staring down hard at his hand in Doc's. He was so baffled by what he saw, he momentarily forgot he had been speaking. There was a slight blush playing on Lion’s cheeks, barely visible. The moment only lasted a short while, because as soon as Lion realised Doc was done, he quickly pulled his injured hand away from the medic. He glared at Doc, but didn't say anything and made to walk away. 

But Doc wasn't having none of that. He hadn’t finished yet. Besides that, he was curious about something as he now had a little hunch about Lion's change of behaviour. And so he grabbed Lion's arm and pulled him back towards him. Lion stumbled and in one swift movement was eye to eye again with Doc. He looked surprised, with a glint of anger in his eye, but before he could start squirming in Doc's grasp, the medic held his chin in an iron grip. 

If possible, Doc leaned in even closer as he forced Lion's head up so he could get a good look at the cut on his lip. It had stopped bleeding and most of the blood was gone, because Lion had been dabbing it silently while Twitch explained the incident with Thatcher in the workshop earlier. Nevertheless it was clean and didn't look dangerous. 

Lion must have noticed this was still part of his treatment, because he stopped squirming in Doc's grasp and allowed the medic to move his head from side to side to examine the wound silently – although grudgingly. His cheeks had started to turn a rosy colour again, and when Doc fleetingly held his hand against his pulse that could be felt on his neck, he detected a quickened heartbeat. 

“No indication of any severe bruising there, but it might start to swell. Nothing to worry about.” Doc said coolly as he released Lion's chin. The other Frenchman immediately put some space in between them, stepping away from Doc quickly. He glared at the medic for a moment before he averted his eyes again. 

“Are we done?” Lion asked, his voice holding a hint of annoyance. 

“We are. But I advise you not to tease Thatcher again – or any op for that matter. You’ve got no one backing you up here.” Doc advised him, his tone professional but his meaning venomous. 

Lion just gave him a look before he was off without another word. Doc watched him leave the room and close the door behind himself. He pulled off his latex gloves and threw them in the bin, before he rested his hands on his desk and sighed. 

It wasn’t true that no one would back Lion. And Doc found it was about time he had a little talk with Montagne about this issue. As for his hunch, Doc felt a mixture of feelings... 

 

\-- 

“He’s actually not that bad, if you ignore the arrogance.” Montagne said calmly, defending his friend when Doc confronted him a few days later about his befriending Lion in the GIGN quarters, with everybody present. Doc was standing in the middle of their small living room, his arms crossed and looking at his giant teammate judgingly. Montagne sat on the sofa, completely relaxed and smiling gently, next to Twitch who looked sour. Rook was leaning against the wall, silently listening to the conversation between his teammates. 

Doc rolled his eyes. 

Yes, the only moment Lion hadn’t been ‘so bad’ ever since they had met again in New Mexico, was during their mission to save doctor Mackintosh. They had worked together fairly well, given their current tensions, but after that Lion had fallen back into his old pattern of arguing with Doc. And now, all of that had all together stopped out of nowhere. Doc demanded answers to his behaviour. 

“I don't know Gilles, I’m sick and tired of having to save his ass every time he gets himself into trouble around here.” Twitch spoke up, addressing Montagne before she turned to the medic. “And I'm also done with being in the middle when the two of you are fighting again. How come you are respectful and calm with everyone else around here, but when it comes to Lion you have some serious anger issues? This is so unlike you, to lash out at that guy whenever he so much as breathes!” Twitch argued, pointing at Doc accusingly. 

“By all means, princess. He's stopped fighting with me since a few weeks. Don't know what’s wrong with him. Do you reckon this is a new form of arrogance, Gilles?” Doc bit back at Twitch before turning his attention to Montagne again. “I can’t seem to make him angry anymore.” Doc added with a strangled chuckle. 

“Perhaps he tries to solve whatever issue the two of you have like an adult?” Montagne looked back at him, and Doc's jaw set at that comment. “Perhaps he’s also tired of fighting you. Perhaps he wants to change and make things up with you. That’s not bad, is it?” 

“Why would he do that?” Doc blurted out. 

“I don't know, you two are so secretive about your past.” Montagne shrugged. “Maybe you should just talk to him instead of asking me. I don't know any more than you do.” 

Doc swallowed hard – that’s something he wouldn’t do in a million years. 

“Is it true Mike punched him square in the face? Everybody is talking about it.” Rook then mixed himself into the conversation, changing the subject – for which Doc was grateful, as he wasn’t about to explain his love life right then and there, in front of his teammates who respected him as a professional medic – looking excitedly between Doc and Twitch. 

Twitch gave an exaggerated sigh. “This is exactly what I’m talking about. I can't be there to stop his arrogant face from getting into a fight every time, can I?” 

“I would've fought Mike for him though,” Rook said, thinking it over while he rubbed his chin, “not to save him, but... Can't have the SAS best GIGN, right?” 

“Nobody is going to fight around here.” Doc told the younger off strictly. “We're all equal.” 

“Apart from Lion, apparently.” Montagne countered, silencing the medic immediately. The subtle comment was way too aggressive for Montagne’s peaceful nature, and he gave Doc a polite smile. 

“Lion doesn't belong here.” Doc defended himself, glaring at Montagne. 

“Give him a chance, Gustave. He really isn’t so bad.” Montagne told him calmly. 

“He’s had his chance, and he's wasted it.” Doc said through gritted teeth. 

“Then give him a second chance.” Montagne countered. “What’s happened to your forgiving nature, Gustave? You have the patience of a saint with everybody else, but when it comes to Lion, you snap at him as soon as he enters the room.” 

“He’s different.” Doc snapped, knowing damn well that wasn’t a good excuse. 

“No no, Gustave, I think Gilles is right. If Lion wants to make it up to you, why don't you just let him? It would spare us a lot of tension around here. And we all know we've already got plenty of that without the two of you arguing like a pair of old wives.” Twitch told him resolutely, and Doc wanted to snap at her again but saw it was no use. These people didn't understand his deep-rooted hatred towards Lion. 

“So what happened between the two of you anyway?” Rook asked curiously. 

“That’s none of your business.” Doc immediately snapped at the younger operator. “I will NOT speak with him. Not now, not tomorrow, never.” 

Twitch attempted to reason with him, but Doc had had enough. He was angrier than he was supposed to be, for a professional like him, and these people weren’t helping him. They didn't understand. So Doc strode out of the GIGN quarters, and without knowing where his feet led him, he walked off. 

With his hands in his pockets, Doc paced through the base like a whirlwind, disregarding everything and everyone in his way. People greeted him but didn't get an answer, and unfortunate staff and objects that got in his way jumped out of the way just in time, or were pushed aside roughly. He strode on and on, his steady pace helping his train of thought. He had no goal and walked around aimlessly, too angry to stop. 

Give that prick a second chance, huh? He didn't even turn out to deserve the first one. He had broken Doc's trust 2 years ago and had indirectly hurt him, but did that matter to the arrogant snob? No. All he wanted was to talk about it, to explain to Doc that what he did hadn’t been a mistake. It had been a calculated decision. 

Calculated decision my ass, Doc thought. 

He had been stupid, causing the deaths of innocent people for the greater good. It hadn’t been fair to the people who had lost their lives in the process. Not fair. And Lion should never be placed in a similar position again, where he decides who lives and dies. He lacked the empathy for such a position. 

And he had been oh-so determined to make Doc see his decision had been right, and to talk it out with him. Back then he had painstakingly attempted to make it up to Doc, so they could continue to be the way they were before the incident. But Doc wouldn't have none of that. And when he started to show that towards Lion, started to become hostile, Lion changed too. They argued continuously, and never again had they spent the night together since then. 

Yes, their affair had been nice, Doc grudgingly admitted that. But Lion couldn’t be forgiven. 

And now Lion decided to change his attitude? For what? To make things up with Doc? Oh please. What would either of them gain by it? All they had were dead memories. They never were a thing, and they would never be together again either. Not as friends with benefits, not as partners, not even as acquaintances. 

Unfortunately, they were colleagues. And that was a hard enough pill to swallow for Doc already, even though he didn't treat Lion like one. He was aching for the man to leave. But he stayed, and seemed to be enjoying himself here even though he had no one. 

He had no one. 

Doc looked up all of a sudden, as if roused from a deep sleep. He found himself outside, walking along the deserted path that led around the base. He shortly wondered at how he had gotten here, but then he noticed something else: the reason he had been able to stop his mind from overthinking. 

A slim cat walked towards him on the path before him, meowing gently at him. Its fur was white, and its back was brown and black, like the top of its head. Doc stopped walking, and so did the feline. It sat down and tilted its head slightly, as if waiting for something. 

“Hey little one, how did you get in here?” Doc said softly, kneeling down and reaching to the animal to pet it. His sour mood was completely forgotten by the sight of the creature. But how indeed had it gotten here? The whole base was fenced off to keep any unauthorised people from accessing the military grounds. The cat must have slipped in past the gate. 

Seeing Doc's hand approaching it, the feline quickly got up and ran off. Surprised, Doc watched it go. He still sat on the pavement with one knee, following the cat with his eyes as it ran down the path. And there, in the distance, someone was jogging. 

It was Lion. 

Doc quickly got off the path, not wanting the other to spot him. Lion was the last person on earth he wanted to speak to right now. He hid himself behind a tree and peeked at the cat from behind it. It ran straight to Lion, and stopped a little distance away from him. 

Lion looked up, his face brightening up upon seeing the cat. Slowing down, he gently spoke to the animal, but Doc was too far away to hear the words. He went down on his knee and reached out to pet it, as Doc had done, but this time the cat didn't run off. It allowed Lion to pet it, and sure enough it was rubbing its head against Lion's outstretched hand. Doc couldn’t believe his eyes. How could an animal be comfortable with and trust someone like Lion? 

Sitting down on the slightly wet pavement in his jogging shorts, Lion allowed the cat to climb on his lap and he continued to stroke its fur there. He reached into one of his pockets and gave the animal something small – probably a treat. He then cuddled with the cat for ages, and Doc was speechless. 

Lion has a soft side? 

Doc retreated behind the tree and sat down against its bark. It didn't look like he was going to go anywhere any time soon, what with Lion playing with the cat and Doc not wanting to get spotted by him. 

Still, if Lion sought the company of a little cat, how lonely was he? Did no one else want to hang out with him? 

For the first time, the thought of Lion being lonely didn't satisfy Doc anymore. Before, this idea sparked the hope in him that the man would leave Rainbow if no one gave a fuck about him. But now, seeing him being so gentle with the little creature in his lap, Doc found himself doubting. Lion was so determined to stay, but he was all alone here. Why did he want to stay so badly? 

Doc said is a lot, but it was the truth. Nobody liked him. 

Peeking at the man from behind the tree once more, Doc saw how the cat had now curled up in his lap and appeared to have fallen asleep. Lion's face was peaceful, his expression softer than Doc had ever seen it while he continued to stroke the cat slowly as to not wake it up. 

How could a man like Lion, an arrogant prick and the indirect killer of a group of innocent people, be so soft? 

Doc returned to his position sitting behind the tree. He bit his lip. 

He didn't know. 

 

\-- 

It was several days later, and still Doc and Lion hadn’t so much as exchanged a word – or better yet – a glance, after Doc had caught the other man with a cat on the grounds of Hereford Base. Doc was happy about that, since he needed the space to get the man off his mind. Still, that appeared to be rather difficult. Subconsciously he continued to wonder at Lion's change of attitude towards him. Luckily, a distraction was then offered to him: a day ago some ops had returned from a mission, some of them wounded, and Doc had been very busy patching them up. Of course this wasn’t a good distraction, as Doc preferred to see his colleagues return in one piece, but the fact that he could simply go about doing his job helped him keep his mind occupied. 

He didn't argue with Rook, Twitch and Montagne about it anymore either. The three of them had probably agreed to stop trying to meddle in Doc's personal life, and the medic was happy about that. They still didn't understand his annoyance towards Lion, but it couldn’t be helped. Because, how absurd would it be if he told his colleagues, who respected and trusted him, that he had had a previous, intense sexual relationship with the very person the whole base hated? 

Yeah, as if. 

And so the tension continued, albeit lesser than before. Lion's calm and quiet had taken away some of the stress Doc had felt before, and he couldn’t say that was a bad thing. Still, the reason why Lion allowed him to swear at him and completely make an idiot out of him, without saying as much as a word back, was unbeknownst to Doc. 

The monks. It probably had to do with those monks. 

“Is everything alright, doctor?” 

Doc looked up, startled, and realised he had been too caught in his own thoughts – he was in the canteen, sharing a late evening meal with only a few others who had been too late to join their colleagues for dinner at 6 as well. Vigil sat all by himself at a different table, Mute sat next to Doc, opposite him sat Glaz, sketching away in his sketch book without having taken a single bite of his dessert yet, and next to him sat Frost, who looked at him with slight worry showing on her face. 

“I’m sorry, did I disturb your thinking?” She apologised politely, giving him a shy smile. If someone in this chaotic base had manners, it was this lady. 

“Ah- no, I’m sorry. I was zoning out.” Doc apologised himself. 

“You looked quite frustrated. Anything on your mind?” Frost asked, showing sympathetic interest in his well-being. Doc appreciated it, but found himself feeling ashamed of getting so carried away. If others could even read his face when he only _thought_ about the other man... 

Doc then caught Glaz’ eyes fleetingly looking up from his paper, scanning Doc’s face, then the artist returned his attention to his sketch book. He was leisurely leaned against the back rest of his seat, pencil in hand comfortably and posture relaxed as the corner of his mouth turned upwards ever so slightly. 

“It’s nothing.” Doc said, wary now as he looked at Glaz, “What’s that you’re drawing, Timur?” 

Glaz looked up and shrugged. “Just a sketch.” 

“It’s a little cartoon character.” Frost answered, sitting next to him and peeking at his sketch book. 

“Hey-” Glaz protested, never liking when people looked at his works when they weren’t finished yet. The two operators got in a little argument and Doc just let them be, returning his thoughts to his initial problems: 

Lion’s quietness. 

Was it arrogance? Did he feel too good to be fighting with Doc now? Was he ignoring Doc because he was feeling superior? With that haughty look on his face, his vain Sunday clothes and perfect hair when he went to attend the Sunday mass... Doc bit the inside of his mouth when he angered himself with how _perfect_ the man always looked. 

What a dick. 

But was that the truth? Was he really arrogant? Because every time Doc swore at him, there seemed to be nothing left of that cocky behaviour. As if Lion had broken down all the walls around him himself. No more smug smiles, no more egotistical comments, no more mister smart guy. He wasn’t like that with anyone else, Doc knew, because Twitch still complained about him regularly. Then what was going on? 

Doc knew, even though he tried to ignore it. It was in Lion’s eyes. A deep, deep sadness. 

“Are you going to eat that?” 

Once again Doc’s thoughts were disturbed, this time by Mute asking Glaz if he was still going to eat his dessert, which consisted of a cold custard pie. Glaz shrugged and waved his hand dismissively at the pie, which was Mute’s cue to snatch it off his plate. Doc looked up, finding Frost had left already without his noticing and Mute munching down on his custard pie. When he looked ahead, Doc found Glaz’ grey, studious eyes and barely noticeable grin on him again. When their eyes met, the Russian immediately looked away again and continued drawing. Doc shrugged it off, having more pressing matters on his mind. 

Now, where was he? Yes, the sadness. The sadness in Lion’s eyes. It wasn’t just sadness, it was an inexplicable pain as well. Like what Doc had seen back in New Mexico, when they had been on their mission inside the hospital. Back then, Doc had understood the reason for Lion’s sadness. Strangely enough, as much as he hated the man, he understood him and read him like a book. He felt him, sensed his feelings, but could never quite find the emotions to sympathise with him. Doc still thought the man had deserved all of this. 

But was that still true? 

It was 2 years ago by now. Wasn’t it time to finally see eye to eye? Give Lion a second chance, like Montagne told him? But then he remembered his arrogant face, his arrogant grey-brown eyes underneath that perfect brown-orangish hair, and Doc felt like he could punch him. 

Wasn’t his fault. Lion just had such a punchable face. 

Exactly. What was he thinking? Lion was still the waste of space he had always been. He probably hadn’t learned a single thing of his mistakes. Probably expects Doc to apologise. Pfft. Yeah right. Nothing could change that man. And he definitely didn’t deserve his forgiveness. Or so Doc convinced himself. 

A metal fork fell to the floor with a loud crash, the sound amplified by the emptiness of the canteen. Doc looked up, once again startled out of his thoughts. He angrily looked at the source of the sound: Mute had dropped his fork when he attempted to get up and bring his plate to the canteen lady. Over in his own corner, Vigil sat studying the scene quietly as he had probably been pulled out of his thoughts as well by the crash. 

“Oops.” Mute said, sheepishly grinning and bending to pick up his cutlery. Doc was about to explode now. Could he not be left in peace with his thoughts for 5 bloody minutes!? He made to get up as well, when he noticed Glaz’ silent, grey eyes on him once again, a grin playing on his lips. 

“And what are you staring at?!” He yelled at the sniper, sounding angrier than he meant to be. 

Mute quickly vanished now and Glaz just gave a small chuckle before he returned his attention to his sketchbook and continued to draw. Doc got up, gave a frustrated sigh and marched over to the Russian. He stood behind him and looked over his shoulder with his hands on his hips. His brows knitted together as he stared at the drawing in Glaz’ lap. 

The artist was drawing a cartoon character, Frost had been right about that. It was the Tasmanian Devil, Taz, from the Looney Tunes. Doc recognised it. There was something off, though. Taz carried a stim pistol, very much like his own, and wore combat clothes that resembled the ones Doc was equipped with. 

“Why is my gear on this cartoon character?” Doc asked, his voice loud and threatening as he demanded an answer of Glaz. 

The Russian just laughed calmly. “Forgive me, Gustave, but you’ve just been so angry lately. Reminded me of this character. Seemed a perfect fit.” 

Doc didn’t really appreciate the joke, staring down hard at the Tasmanian Devil that was supposed to resemble him. Why was Glaz comparing him with a short-tampered, impatient animal? He wasn’t like that at all! 

Or was he? 

If he really thought about it, he might have bitched a bit more than usual lately. Especially to Lion. Did Glaz, calm, observing Glaz, caught onto that? That’s embarrassing. 

Doc just huffed at the drawing before he turned and strode out of the canteen without commenting on the drawing. They were all just being silly. Twitch, Montagne, Glaz... What did they know. Nothing. 

He remembered he still had some chores to do before the day was over, so he decided to forget about it all and get on with his day. Now he was on his way to the storage room, having to retrieve some supplies for his office. His stocks were dwindling fast, and whether that had to do with the latest mission, or someone stealing the stocks – Bandit – Doc didn't know, but it angered him anyway that the recent stock take he had done was now incorrect. And so he strode through the corridors, heading to the storage room, when he turned his head to look outside through the window. 

It was pouring with rain - _pissing_ with rain as Mike would say – and in the distance were some recruits doing laps on the muddy training grounds. Doc shook his head, feeling pity towards the young men. As his eyes drifted back to looking in front of him to see where he was going, they went over a lonely figure closer by. Doc looked again. 

Outside, on one of the benches in the courtyard, sat a person. Doc cocked his head as he silently regarded the person, who was wearing a hood but was soaking wet nonetheless. Why didn't they come inside? Taking a closer look at the person's clothes, Doc knew who it was. 

He strode on. 

Arriving at the storage room, Doc unlocked the door and went inside. He turned on the lights that illuminated the otherwise completely dark room due to the absence of any windows before he started to retrieve his supplies. Stacking his arms full with all kinds of stuff – medical tissues, bandages, pain killers – Doc reckoned he had found everything and turned to leave. 

He then strode back to his office – what a useless, blasted trip – and on instinct looked outside through the windows of the corridor again. Still rain, and still that figure. The person was going to catch a cold, that was for sure. But Doc couldn’t bring himself to call him inside. He didn't quite know what to do with this person anyway. 

Lion was lonely. And why did that suddenly make Doc feel bad?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here’s Doc finally realising he shouldn’t be a bitch to Lion anymore. Will they finally make it up now? ;w; When I tagged “slow burn” for this fic and I meant it xD 
> 
> Did you like Glaz’ sketch? :D It was drawn by my good friend Betti, who’s been my source of inspiration for this fic, and this idea with Glaz too, actually. Thank you so much Betti! <3 
> 
> Lion’s cat scene was inspired by Sun’s art of him, because there is almost always a cat with him and I think that's adorable. [ This one ](https://www.instagram.com/p/Buio1qonkAv/) in particular. <3


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lion's POV. Prepare for the feels.

Lion shivered as the rain poured down on him. His clothes were soaked, his hoodie drenched and no longer keeping the rain out. He was sitting on the backrest of the bench outside in the courtyard of Hereford Base, elbows on his knees, his hands clasped together and his leg fidgeting nervously. He was cold, uncomfortable, and had a knot in his stomach. He wanted to run inside. Not only to get out of this rain, but also to find the person on his mind and talk to him. He had been cropping up his feelings lately, and he felt like he was going to explode. His emotions were conflicting inside of him; one moment he wanted to burst and let it all out, and the other he felt numb and locked inside his own head. 

But he didn’t go inside. 

It was nice and quiet out here, without anyone throwing him judging looks as he simply walked by. And that wasn't just Doc. 

Yeah, he knew everybody hated him. He knew he could sometimes be an arrogant ass, and that most people didn’t like that. He knew nobody around here liked him, but it didn't bother him so much. After his rowdy youth and teen years, he had always been a bit of a loner. And he was fine with that. He didn't need loads of people around him anymore, dozens of people he called a ‘friend' but let him down whenever he needed them. Yes, Lion was more than happy with one or two good friends. 

Still, that didn’t take away the fact that he was lonely. 

Because, yes, he knew he was. Lion hadn’t seen the little cat in a while that he used to feed and cuddle with outside where no one could see him, and the monks of the abbey were nice and all, and Montagne offered welcome company, but he still wasn’t happy. Lion shrugged some rain water off his coat. He was listening to his music via his earphones. It was one of his favourite bands again, Staind, with For You. He had never related to this song so much as he did now, closing his eyes and turning his face to the grey sky as the water dripped down his face. 

He wondered what the use was. 

The use to anything, really. 

To going inside to warm up and get out of this depressing rain, but mostly the use to avoiding arguments with Doc. The use to letting the medic swear the shit out of him. Was it worth it? Lion didn’t defend himself. He sucked it up. Every insult, every sneering comment. He acted as if they didn’t have any effect on him, and judging by Doc's frustrated reaction, it worked. 

But they did affect him. 

He remembered when he was younger and getting bullied back in Paris, in primary school, his mum would say: insults don’t hurt. Meaning that only physical pain hurt. But she was wrong. So fucking wrong. Yes, physical pain was bad. But wounds mended. Mental wounds, however, did not. And the insults Doc threw at him _hurt_. 

Lion didn’t expect to be able to make it up to him anymore. He feared Doc would never listen to him, and would never forgive him. For the small crime he committed, which had avoided a much larger crime. But alas, the medic did not want to see that. He didn’t see reason. All he saw was his humanitarianism, which caused him to fail to see Lion’s logic. 

His decision hadn’t been wrong. _It hadn’t._

It had been the best he could’ve done in his position. 

But Doc couldn’t forgive him, it seemed, and couldn’t forget it. 

And so, Lion had stopped fighting. Brother Benjamin had been right. There’s no use in fighting. He wanted to make things up to Doc. He wanted them to be the same as they were before. Before the incident. Silently he even wanted to be something more than what they were back then. But he realised that was impossible. Doc didn’t even seem to want to forgive him now anyway, why would he want to pick up their feeble relationship where they had left it 2 years ago? 

So now all Lion hoped for, was that they could at least live side by side in peace. Without the insults and arguments. Just like colleagues. Could that be possible? 

Frustrated, he yanked his earphones out of his ears. The music was getting him down, and Lion really couldn’t have that. 

“Olivier.” 

A soft voice called him through the rain, and Lion opened his eyes and looked up from his thoughts. Opposite of him, in the open doorway leading back into the base, stood Finka. Her face was calm but worried as she gazed at her partner. 

“Come.” She waved her arm to beckon him before she disappeared inside. 

Lion watched her go, perplexed she had found him out here, before he tucked his phone and earphones away. Then he found himself getting up and slowly shuffling over to the open door. When he entered, there was no one around but Finka. She closed the door and without speaking another word, she guided him to their shared sleeping quarters. 

Once they arrived there, she told him to have a warm shower first and get out of his wet clothes before he’d catch a cold. She ushered him to the small bathroom, but before she could close the door behind him, Lion turned around and stopped her. 

“Why are you doing this? Where are your friends?” Lion asked her warily. 

“I’ve been hanging out with the other Russians a lot lately,” Finka shrugged, door handle in hand, “but I realised in time someone needs to take care of you. Because you won't do it yourself. Now, shower.” 

Finka closed the door and Lion was left alone. He sighed, looked around and started removing his soaking-wet clothes. A warm shower did sound nice. Within a minute he was naked and stepping into the shower. He turned it on and let the drops of warm water fall down on him. Indeed, this was much better than the cold, dirty rain in which he had been sitting. Lion emptied his mind to the monotone sound of water hitting the floor, and gradually found himself calming down. He closed his eyes and sighed again. His tense muscles relaxed, the knot in his stomach disappeared and his hands stopped shaking. Never before had a shower been so easing on his mind. 

He stayed under the hot stream for longer than he necessary, but he had simply grown to love the warmth. When he did finally turn off the water and dried himself off, he found Finka had left him a set of dry clothes. He smiled a bit when he saw them, a simple t-shirt and sweatpants, and realised he had missed her company while she had been hanging out with the other Russians. Finka was a strong woman, who liked to appear hard and cold, but deep within she was caring and gentle. 

Lion was happy to have her as a friend, and slowly he came to realise that, if there was anyone around here he could trust with his problems, it would be her. Could he vent to her? Would she help him and give him advice? 

Slipping into the dry clothes and feeling much better already than he had half an hour ago, Lion emerged from the bathroom. He had half expected Finka to be gone already, seeing as he had taken quite long in the shower, but she was sitting on the small sofa inside their quarters, having turned on some lights to make their simple room look cosier. She looked up from the magazine she had been reading and smiled gently upon seeing him. 

“Much better.” She commented, apparently already _seeing_ that he was feeling better and the shower had done him good without Lion even having said a word. Women were truly extraordinary beings. 

“Thanks Lera.” Lion said quietly, but the words seemed so little and petty compared to the gratitude he felt towards her. He had never been good at being humble. 

He went to sit beside her on the sofa, and for a moment they just sat in silence, getting used to each other’s company again. Lion's calm mind threatened to be flooded with emotions again as he tried to think of a way to start this conversation. Luckily, he didn't have to. 

“Tell me what's on your mind, Olivier.” Finka told him calmly. 

Lion sighed. “There's a lot on my mind.” He admitted. Now that he thought about it, it seemed like a bad idea to transfer all of his problems to Finka’s shoulders. There was simply too much. 

But she told him: “Then tell me everything. We have time, and I’m not going anywhere. Don't push me away, Olivier. Let me be here for you.” 

Her words were moving; the kindest Lion had heard in a long time. He decided to calm down, and trust Finka. He needed to get this off his chest. It was true he knew her the longest, since they had met before Rainbow, so it made sense she would be the one he confided in. The monks were no use in this matter, and even though Montagne was a friendly person, he was afraid the man was wound around Doc's finger, because the other four GIGN operators had known each other for longer. Finka knew him, wasn't afraid of his angry or arrogant outbursts, so really she was the perfect person to trust. Why didn't Lion see that before? 

“It's Doc...” Lion started, breaking the silence but not quite knowing how to put his emotions into words. 

“I figured.” Finka said softly, not judgmental but understanding. “Why don't you tell me what happened. Tell me how you two ended up like this.” She helped him, her voice calm and kind. Because they sat next to each other, they weren’t looking at each other. Lion liked that. It meant he only had to keep his emotions at bay in his voice. Finka didn't look at him, wanting to give him that privacy while she only heard the words he said. That way she could give a more neutral opinion later. 

Lion took a shaky breath, and held his voice as steady as he could while he carefully continued: “We were in the same unit in GIGN. About 2 years ago. Might be 3 by now. Doesn’t matter.” Lion stumbled over his words, not really sure how to start. “We... we were...” 

It wasn't like he was ashamed of the relationship they had had, or of being _gay_ for that matter, but he knew Finka wasn't brought up in a free country like he was. He hoped she would understand. 

“...sleeping together. Not dating, no romance, just... That.” He decided to keep it subtle and carefully looked to his side to gauge Finka’s reaction, but she sat on the sofa calmly and looked at him in silence, waiting for him to continue. Lion coughed softly. “I have always wished we had been something more. But he probably wouldn't have liked it. I don't know. Anyway, it was nice for as long as it lasted.” He finished gravely. 

“Because then it went wrong?” Finka inquired quietly. 

“Yes, then it went wrong.” Lion nodded sadly. “We were on a mission in West Africa. The Ebola outbreaks, remember? It was all over the news. We had been seeing each other for several months by then. I was leading a squad, and Doc was on site with a medical team. During one of the missions, my team was pushed into a corner. What could I do? Our situation was rather desperate and hopeless, and I had to think quickly. I finally made my decision and gave out the orders. It really was the best decision I could’ve made, given our circumstances. I had the safety of the people at heart, I really did.” 

When Lion’s voice faded and he seemed to be struggling to get out the next part of the story, Finka nudged him gently, shuffled closer but she didn’t hold him. She wasn’t sure if the man would appreciate it. His hands were clasped together tightly, but Finka could see he was trembling. “But...?” She asked softly to keep Lion’s story on track. 

“But-” Lion started, now holding the fabric of his trousers tightly with his hands as if he was looking for something to hold on to, “people died.” His voice broke. 

Now Finka did put an arm around his shoulder, as a means of emotional support. She didn’t hold him, but she did want to show him she was there for him. Her partner was breathing hard through his nose, the emotions from all those years ago coming back to the surface now. Strangely though, he didn’t cry. His eyes were dry, but his face was more sombre than she had ever seen it. She slowly realised he must have already cried his tears over this, and now he must be painfully hollow by all that had happened to him. 

“I didn’t mean for them to die.” Lion continued softly, his voice almost a whisper as he stared into the distance as if he was seeing the scene unfold before him again. “The incident has haunted my nightmares ever since.” 

Finka nodded, as she understood. No one liked people dying under their watch, be it colleagues or civilians. To them, as operators, every life was valuable and must be protected against those who were seeking to destroy it. But she still didn’t understand one thing. “But, what has Doc got to do with this?” 

Upon hearing the alias, Lion stopped trembling. Instead, his muscles tensed and his face went hard. He looked at Finka with hatred. “One of his colleagues died, and the cause could directly be linked to my decision. He got furious with me when he found out. Said I ‘lacked’ the empathy that is needed to help in these kind of crisis situations.” Lion told her angrily, putting emphasis on the verb. His tone was venomous now. “How can he think that? Yeah, I can be arrogant, but I’m not senseless! It was a decision for the greater good; in the end I had sacrificed a few lives to save many, even though their deaths can't be justified like this of course. But he didn’t want to listen.” 

“That’s horrible, Olivier...” Finka said softly. 

“And it’s never been the same since then. He ridiculed me in front of my team, scolded me, defiled my name... He never looked at me the same way anymore. I lost his respect, and that of my peers in GIGN. For something I wasn’t proud of, but had to be done. But nobody believed me anymore. They all love Doc, and just despise me.” Lion swallowed, shortly pondering over the unfairness of it all. “We broke contact after the mission in West Africa. But now it seems our paths had to cross again.” He snorted at the unfortunate twist of fate. 

“Wow Olivier, I didn’t know...” Finka started, rather taken aback by this new information. “It explains a lot though... So how are you holding out with him now?” 

“He’s still being an ass as he was back then. Nothing has changed. At the beginning I fought back, but one of the brothers at the abbey I volunteer at told me that was the wrong thing to do. I have taken his advice serious and have stopped arguing with Doc, even though that’s rather hard when he continues to scold the shit out of me. I... I want to make peace, I want us to be colleagues again, I want his respect back but all he’s doing is hurting me.” Lion sighed, defeated, and before he added in a slightly lighter tone: “Although he’s been cutting back on his nasty remarks lately, for some reason... Could he be catching on on what I’m trying to do?” Lion wondered out loud and turned to look at Finka for help. 

“That’s a nasty little situation you’re in Olivier, I’m not going to lie...” Finka seemed to think for a moment before she carefully asked: “Well, first of all, how can he know you’re trying to make it up to him if you’re not talking to him? Now he’s probably confused at your strange behaviour, so maybe if he knows of your efforts to stop this fight, he’ll look at you in a different light? Maybe he’s just so used to being an ass to you, he’s kind of stuck in that mode? I hate to say it Olivier, but I think that, if you want to solve this, you’re going to have to talk to him.” 

“But how can I have a serious conversation with him? He’s always surrounded by others, and if we do talk, he just sneers at me and I never get a proper chance to speak to him. I also... don’t really know how to go about doing this...” Lion admitted, shifting on the sofa, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. 

Finka thought this over for a moment before she spoke up again: “Well, call it coincidence or not, but some ops have agreed to go to one of the local pubs tonight. You know, just for a little drink and informal chat, not to get absolutely wasted... Myself and the Russian guys are going, and you should come along too. I heard some of the GIGN are coming too, so this could be your perfect opportunity to speak to him in a comfortable setting. And if it goes wrong, you only have to sign for me and I’ll come save you.” 

Lion rolled his eyes at the plan, especially the last part. He hated pointless outings, so he immediately made up an excuse: “I'm afraid I won't be available tonight, as I promised to volunteer at the abbey tonight.” It was true the volunteers were meeting at the church tonight. It was a lie that he had promised to be there, though. 

“Olivier, you really can't let this chance slip by. The setting will be perfect. Just hold your temper and, I don't know, flirt a bit? Try to get on his good side.” Finka persuaded him. 

“Does he have a good side?” Lion snorted, faking surprise. Then when he seriously thought about it, FinKa was kind of right. He was just rather reluctant to say yes. Out with the other ops, who preferred to ignore him... And Doc being present, too... He’d only have Finka to fall back on, so he would be like the introverted guy who only played with the dog at a party with the popular kids. Lion grimaced at the idea. Admittedly he was also rather nervous about speaking to Doc. 

Finka looked at him sternly. “Olivier, I mean it. You want to make things up to him, right?” 

“Yes, but what do I say? How do I flirt with someone who'd rather see me leave?” Lion asked her, exasperated. 

“I don't know, just wing it? I know you can be charming if you want to. You’re never going to know if you never even try, Olivier.” Finka told him resolutely, as if this was her life motto. To be fair, it was a rather inspiring one. 

Lion stared at her for a moment, perplexed at the truth in her words. Damnit. 

“So I'll see you tonight at the pub, at 8 PM sharp.” Finka didn't give him another chance to protest as she gave him a smile. She got up and left their room to leave Lion alone with his thoughts. To make a plan. 

Lion bit his lip. This was hopeless. 

 

\-- 

Lion stared at his pint of beer that stood untouched on the table in front of him while he absentmindedly played with the frayed tablecloth. He was listening to conversations he had no interest in. Small drops of condense made their way down the glass, the drink itself looking extremely appetising, but Lion was lacking the appetite to drink it. 

Going to the pub with Finka and the others had been a mistake. 

Oh yeah, Doc was here. But he was ignoring him, as usual, so Lion didn't see himself having a little chat with the man any time soon. Lion shook his head as his eyes had drifted to the other Frenchman once again. He wasn't sure of his plan, but he supposed Finka was right. Only one way to find out. 

But for now he was content to just sit here, squeezed between Glaz and Finka, while he didn't participate in the conversation between the Russians next to him and opposite him, where Fuze, Kapkan and Tachanka sat. He just stared at his beer and listened to their voices without actually hearing what they were saying. 

He should really down that beer. He’d need it if he wanted to talk to Doc tonight. 

Lion looked around to see what the others were up to. It turned out nearly half of team Rainbow had fancied a night at the pub, while the other half was either still working or on a mission. 

Of GIGN, Twitch was present as well, but she was talking to Mira over a glass of red wine. They were sitting at one end of their large table, and Lion reminded himself that she didn't like his company either. At the same table, there was Buck and Blackbeard, who seemed to be best friends and talked merrily together without minding the rest much. Then in the corner there was an odd pair, Jackal and Echo, all the way on the other end of the table. The Japanese man was leaning against the wall next to him while the Spaniard sat way too close to him on his other side, apparently unaware of the personal space Echo obviously appreciated. Echo looked like he’d rather be somewhere else while Jackal talked to him, his full body turned towards the other as he was the centre of his attention. Lion softly snorted at the display. 

Then there was Bandit, who sat at the bar like Doc, but both men sat on their own. His elbows were on the counter, his head hanging low. Finka had mentioned this outing wasn't aimed at getting wasted, but the German looked to be doing exactly that. Lion had always found him an odd fellow, so he decided it was best to keep out of his way. Last but not least, the whole SAS gang was here, sitting at their own table and talking softly amongst themselves. Lion noticed how they looked his way every now and then, but decided not to act on it. If they wanted a fight, then they would get a fight. But he reasoned for now it was best to lay low and find the right moment to approach Doc. 

But when he had finally downed his beer, it seemed he wasn't the only one wanting to approach the attractive medic. 

A young woman had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and had taken the empty seat next to Doc. They were chatting now, but the pub was so noisy and Lion sat too far away to make out any words in their conversation. Lion’s jaw set as he watched the woman flirt with Doc, placing her small hand on his strong forearm as she giggled at whatever it was he had said. Lion quickly averted his gaze so he wouldn’t seem suspicious in the eyes of the Russians around him, as Glaz had already been observing him quietly this evening. He ordered a round for the others, receiving a cheer from Tachanka and Kapkan on the other side of the table, their hostilities that went way back to operation Chimera long forgotten now they got free drinks. 

With the looming threat of the woman next to Doc, Lion felt nervous. Was his plan really good enough? Wouldn't Doc prefer to continue talking to the woman rather than to him? He pushed those thoughts to the back if his head and painstakingly returned his attention to the wooden table in front of him, as if it were really interesting, and over the next hour he downed a few more beers. Maybe if he was slightly tipsy, he’d dare talk to Doc. 

But the beers weren’t making him feel relaxed or more confident, but rather even more nervous and apprehensive. Finka shot him looks across the table several times as she too had noticed the woman talking to Doc, and subtly tapped the watch on her wrist with her finger. 

_Time is ticking._

Lion had hoped the woman would clear off after a while, but apparently she was way too interested in the medic. Lion grinded his teeth as he watched them from where he sat every now and then. Why couldn’t she fuck off? He was growing less and less certain of his plan with every minute that passed. 

The pub was half an hour away from closing time when the woman finally walked off, or _stormed off_ , when she had asked Doc something and he had smiled politely and shaken his head. Lion could only guess what the question had been, but it gave him a tiny little spark of hope because Doc had answered negatively. Finka shot him an insinuating look, subtly gesturing over to Doc with her head, who now sat alone at the bar. 

Lion nodded and took a deep breath. This was it, then. He got up clumsily, his hands sweaty and his heart hammering. He felt like a stupid school boy again. Finka gave him a reassuring smile before he left, and unbeknownst to Lion, Glaz watched him go curiously. The other Russians were way too deep in conversation to notice anything strange about the already strange Lion. 

Approaching the medic, Lion did his best to calm himself down. 

“Hi.” Lion blurted out, as casually as he could, as he stood behind Doc. He clasped his hands behind his back to hide how much he was shaking. 

Doc turned around in his seat to see who was talking to him, even though he probably already knew by his voice. Surprise was evident on his face when he saw Lion had spoken to him, but he quickly hid it. His eyes went up and down Lion’s frame suspiciously, sizing him up and remaining silent. He held back any sneering comments, at least for the moment, probably curious as to why Lion would approach him and what he would say. 

Lion realised he wasn’t being sent away, and so he took this as his cue to continue. He held out his hand. “I’m Olivier.” 

Doc stared at his extended hand, dumbfounded and a brow raised. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again as he probably tried go figure out what the other was up to. 

But this was Lion's plan. He was probably confusing Doc even more with this, after his quiet behaviour over the last weeks, but he had decided this was the best solution for their issues that had been going on for far too long now. 

Lion wanted to start over again. 

Doc’s dark eyes shot up to Lion’s face again, scanning it and trying to find a hint of humour or ridicule there. His eye twitched slightly as he watched Lion, his mouth a thin line. But Lion wasn’t trying to make fun of him. He meant this. But Doc’s passive figure worried him more and more as seconds passed in which Lion stood in front of him, offering him his hand. 

Then, after what seemed like an eternity of tense staring, Doc reluctantly took Lion’s hand with his and shook it slowly. Without taking his eyes off Lion's face, he grumbled: “Gustave.” 

Lion tried not to smile. Doc understood. That on its own was a big step. He told himself to calm down again and not mess this up. He was walking on thin ice at the moment and he needed to take this slow. “Can I sit here?” He asked, pointing at the vacant seat next to Doc; the seat on which the pretty woman had been sitting before. 

Looking at the seat, Doc turned back to look at Lion. The expression on his face was still surprised and dumbfounded, if not a tad bit suspicious, but he hid those emotions well when he answered: “I suppose you could.” 

A sense of euphoria went through Lion’s body. Doc didn’t send him away. 

And so Lion sat down slowly, all the time watching the man beside him. In front of Doc was a half-finished glass of wine, and he looked calm although he still watched Lion out of the corner of his eye; on his guard for any tricks Lion might have up his sleeve. 

But Lion had no intention to continue their old arguing. Better yet, he opted for some small talk to lift the tension, and Doc reluctantly joined. They talked stiffly for the remaining few minutes until the pub owner announced his pub was now closed. Nothing interesting or important was discussed, but there were no hostile feelings during the short time they spent together. Doc finished his wine in one gulp before he took his coat, looked at Lion one last time and wished him a good night before he set off without looking back. 

It was a start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They're finally getting somewhere :3 Just want to thank you all for sticking around so far, I know it's been extremely slow burn but it was fitting for this story.
> 
> In the first part of this chapter, Lion was listening to another song by Staind which was perfect for this situation, I thought... Hence why I chose the same band again, [Staind - For You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_29KxKc34E).
> 
> I also enjoyed writing Finka's consolation. I love her as a character and she's my main for multiplayer, and I hope I did her character justice in this story. I can imagine she's tough on the outside, but she has a soft side for the persons she loves, because she too lives with a burden. Inspiration for this part of the fic was [Missio - I See You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=506k3_V4z7o).
> 
> Thank you all so much for reading c:


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Doc's POV

Last night had been odd, to say the least. 

Doc still couldn’t wrap his head around what had happened, but if he really thought about it – if he thought about it _logically_ – it made sense. Lion had been trying to make it up to him all along. In his own special way – by keeping quiet and allowing Doc to swear the shit out of him. Strange tactic, but this was Lion. Doc just hadn’t allowed him. He was still angry over what had happened in Africa, even though they were old wounds that should have mended by now. Truthfully, he just didn’t _want_ to make it up with Lion. 

Yet for some reason, yesterday night, he had lowered his defences and let Lion come closer again. That hadn’t happened in how many years, and Doc himself was still baffled at how easily it had been done. Had Lion caught him in the right moment when he had let his guard down at the pub? Why hadn’t he turned the man away as soon as he spoke, why had he allowed him to stay? Lion had simply approached him at the bar, introduced himself, and Doc had found himself listening to him instead of turning away and rejecting the man. Had he suddenly started to _care_? 

It was ridiculous. Preposterous... But he had been _charmed_ , oddly enough, although he would never admit that. Lion had managed to strike a chord inside which Doc thought had been broken ever since they had split up. It was odd. Very odd. 

Now Doc found himself sitting at his desk inside of his office, later than usual as he had gone to bed a bit later than usual after last night’s visit to the pub, and piles of paperwork surrounded him. Doc sighed and took one of the folders, opened it and let his eyes glide over the words without taking in their meaning. 

He was distracted. For the first time in his life, he was distracted from his job for which he usually reserved the upmost concentration and devotion. It was rather frustrating, but the medic couldn’t help himself. 

Couldn’t help his thoughts drifting back to last night. 

How Lion had just _approached_ him, out of the blue. Doc remembered the expression on his face well, when he had turned around in his seat to find the taller Frenchman standing behind him. A hint of nervousness, mixed with wariness and skepticism. But in his eyes, Doc had thought he had seen a little spark of hope. He wondered now if that was what had made him soft. Did Lion really want to make it up to him that bad? 

He supposed he could let him try. 

After Lion had introduced himself again to Doc and Doc had been foolish enough to take his hand, he had asked to sit down next to Doc. Why didn’t he say no? Why did he let him? He had been too dumbfounded. Lion really did want to start over. Was it wrong to let him? 

Next they had talked, casually although a bit stiffly. They never looked at each other for longer than 2 seconds, preferring to stare straight ahead at all the bottles containing liquor behind the bar. There had been silence between their talks as well, in which Doc had wondered what on earth he was doing there, sipping his wine in a British pub, talking to Lion about politics back in France of all random subjects. How had it come to this? 

Doc gave a frustrated sigh, hating how one evening had complicated everything. How was he supposed to continue hating Lion after this? Was he now supposed to drop all his arguments and treat the other as he would with all their other colleagues? Could he do that? 

Why was he so damn confused? 

Startled, Doc looked up as the door to his office opened softly. Twitch poked her head in and gave him a gentle smile and a small wave. 

“Oh, it’s just you. Come in, Emmanuelle. Is everything alright?” Doc sighed, obviously relieved. 

“Just me?” The French woman pouted, pretending to be offended as she entered the office and closed the door behind her. She approached Doc’s desk and studied his face shortly, before she stopped and continued in an amused voice: “Or were you expecting someone else, perhaps?” 

“Someone else? I’m not expecting anyone. What are you getting at?” Doc answered, furrowing his brows as he looked at the woman in front of him. 

“Or maybe you were _hoping_ someone would come in...?” Twitch tried again, the gentle smile on her face now definitely turning into a grin. 

“State your business, Emmanuelle. I don’t have time for games.” Doc told her rather annoyed, his temper rising not only because of Twitch’s inquisitive questions but also because of his confusion around Lion as well. 

“Oh, are you busy?” Twitch smiled as she looked at the paperwork on Doc’s desk. 

“In fact, I am. So if you could make it quick, unless it’s an emergency.” The medic picked up one of the neglected folders again and started tapping away on his keyboard to demonstrate he was a very busy man. 

Unfortunately, Twitch wasn’t buying it. “Are you now?” She chuckled before she walked around Doc’s desk to take a glance at his computer screen. 

Which was not on. 

“Ah, I see. Busy putting all this paperwork into an imaginary database. Don’t strain yourself, Gustave. Can I get you a coffee?” She teased him, putting one hand on her hip while she leaned on the backrest of Doc’s chair with the other and looked down at her colleague with a grin. 

“I forgot to turn it on.” Doc countered, but he knew he was hopeless. Twitch was a kind woman whom Doc respected very much. But she was also a nosy one at that. 

She chuckled again. “Now, since you have some time, tell me all about last night.” She returned to the other side of Doc’s desk and took a seat in the chair that was reserved for patients, usually. Right now, though, Doc felt like he was the patient and Twitch the doctor asking him about his symptoms. He knew what this was about, but he didn’t want to discuss Lion with her so he played dumb. 

“Last night?” Doc asked, pretending not to know what the woman was talking about. 

“Yes, last night at the pub. I saw you at the bar with a woman for a long time...” 

“Ah-” Doc tried to respond to that and explain to her who the woman was in order to not have to talk about Lion, but she wouldn’t let him. 

“... But it seemed you turned her away, and shortly after she left none other than Lion approached you?” Twitch folded her arms and grinned. 

“Is that so?” Doc answered, feeling his throat go dry as he had no excuses for this. 

“And you did not turn him away?” Twitch pushed on, her grin only widening at Doc’s evasive answers. 

“I- I suppose I didn’t.” Doc tried to pretend the whole situation of last night hadn’t meant much, but Twitch saw right through it, obviously. 

“So what happened?” She cocked her head as she looked at the medic and waited for him to start the hot gossip. 

Doc gave an exaggerated sigh, but he knew he couldn’t get out of this now. Twitch would continue to pester him until she had the juicy story she wanted – which she would probably share with all the other females, Doc thought in displeasure – even though last night had been everything but juicy. After all, nothing had happened. If you looked at it from a neutral point of view, it had just been a talk between two colleagues who barely spoke to each other in their daily life. Nothing more. Nothing special. 

That they were colleagues with a rather colourful history, did not really matter much right now. 

And so Doc reluctantly told Twitch what happened at the pub last night, when Lion had approached him. Though he only stated the facts and did not tell her about all the emotions he had felt, of course. No need for her to know he was a confused mess right now, just because an old lover had tried to get back in touch. 

When he concluded his story, Twitch remained silent for a while longer, looking at Doc intently as if waiting for more. When it became apparent Doc was finished talking, she blinked a few times in surprise before she uttered: “Wait, that’s it? You just went back to base? On your own?” 

“Well, not on my own of course. I walked with the SAS guys, Baker and the lot, you know?” Doc explained, waving his hand dismissively. 

“Yeah but like, not with Lion?” Twitch gave him a penetrating stare, as if this was vital information. 

“No...? Why would I?” Doc cocked an eyebrow at her. 

“I- I thought you...” Twitch stuttered. 

“Thought we made up already? Thought I’d take him back to our quarters for the night?” Doc finished the sentence for her, snorting. “What a naive thing to think.” 

“But the others... Elena saw it as well, even Sébastien and Craig, who walked us back to base, they saw- they saw the-” Twitch seemed to be utterly confused. 

“Saw what?” Doc bit at her, annoyed at her for filling the other ops in on this. 

“A spark...” Twitch said softly. 

“Well, you saw that wrong.” Doc blurted out, angrier than he meant to be. 

“You still hate him then?” Twitch asked sadly. 

Doc opened his mouth to tell her yes, surely and confidently. But his tongue wouldn’t work, and no sound would come out. Did he still hate Lion? Yes, of course he did. Then why couldn’t he just say that? 

Lion had broken him last night. He wasn’t sure of anything anymore. 

“Yes.” Doc finally spit, slamming his fist on his desk. But Twitch had noted the short silence, the moment of doubt before Doc had answered. The medic’s mood changed from angry to annoyed, and to unsure as he saw the sad expression on Twitch’s face change to a small smile. “I tell you, Emmanuelle, stop meddling in this. I dislike that idiot and one evening won’t change that. He’s still a waste of space.” Doc tried to reassure her of his hatred towards the younger Frenchman, or was he trying to reassure himself? 

“Sure, sure Gustave.” Twitch said as she got up from her seat and walked over to the door, apparently having gotten the information she wanted. Before she left, though, she turned to Doc one last time and gave him a smile. “But I wonder if you still believe that yourself. Give the man a chance, Gustave. _Let him_.” Were her last words of advice before she left the medic alone again. 

Doc stared after her, even though she was long gone. He was baffled once again, his mouth hanging open slightly as if he still wanted to retort to Twitch’s words. He believed that, right? Lion was a waste of space. He was. 

This situation was complicated, and with every minute that passed Doc felt himself getting more and more confused. Is Lion really a waste of space? 

 

\-- 

The next few days Doc tried his hardest to avoid Lion. Before that night in the pub, he didn’t mind seeing the man as it got him an opportunity to ridicule him or curse him, which amused him, but now he felt awkward in Lion’s presence. Of course he would see the man from time to time, as he walked down the corridor or when he visited the canteen. Doc always tried to look away, but somehow Lion always managed to corner him. The younger Frenchman would greet him, and Doc would greet him back stiffly while he was afraid Lion would try to make some small talk again. But that never happened. Lion simply greeted him, walked off again and that was it, but with every encounter Doc grew more and more curious. 

Why was Lion doing this? What were his motives? What was his plan? 

Sadly, no opportunity presented itself to ask Lion. Every time they saw each other, there were other people around. Sometimes Doc would be talking to the other GIGN members in the communal living room, and he would feel Lion’s eyes on him from the other side of the room. But whenever he threw a subtle glance in the other Frenchman’s direction, he wasn’t looking. 

Not for the first time Doc noticed that Lion mostly sat alone. He would be reading a book or a magazine, or listening to music via his earphones. People who sat near him, didn’t mind him or bat him an eye. They would be talking and laughing while Lion sat quietly by himself, not bothering to befriend the others either. And Doc didn’t approach him either. From time to time Finka, Lion’s partner, would talk to him, but she spent most of her time with the other Russians and let the Frenchman be. The only other person who could sometimes be found in Montagne’s presence, was Montagne. 

The traitor. 

But the French giant was a busy man, what with training the recruits for Six, so that still left Lion alone most of the time. Doc sometimes saw him with that little stray cat from, but the majority of his free time Lion spent at that church of his. The medic heard from Montagne he volunteered there, and enjoyed the work very much. 

Silently Doc wondered if it wasn’t just an escape from Hereford Base for the new operator. 

It was a week after the pub night when Doc entered the GIGN quarters after a long day of work, tired and looking forward to a nice long shower and an early night. But he walked into their small, tidy living room only to find Montagne there with a guest. 

And that guest was Lion. 

The two men were chatting, but stopped short when they looked up see who had entered the room. Montagne smiled at Doc and greeted him, not seeming surprised to see the medic in this place and at this moment in the slightest. Suspicious. Lion greeted him with a short nod, which Doc returned reluctantly. What was that guy doing here? Why had Montagne invited him here? He had his own living room, over at the CBRN quarters with Finka. 

Although those were probably empty, with Finka visiting the other Russians, and Lion probably sat there all by himself often. 

No need to feel bad for him, of course. 

“Long day?” Montagne asked the medic with a smile, which almost looked like a grin. 

“Yeah I-” Doc was about to explain how he had gotten some overdue paperwork at the last minute, and had worked through it just so he wouldn’t have to do it tomorrow morning, but he was rudely interrupted by Twitch barging into the room. 

“Giles, could you-” She started, breathing hard as she had probably ran here from God knew where. Doc raised an eyebrow at her. Twitch looked around, apparently surprised to see so many people here, before she properly greeted everyone: “Hi Gustave, Olivier. Didn’t know you were here. Could I borrow Giles for a moment?” 

“Sure.” Montagne jumped up as if he was eager to leave. If possible, Doc raised his eyebrow at the pair of them even more. 

“What do you need him for?” Doc asked, suspicion creeping up on him. 

“A lightbulb,” Twitch immediately answered, “a lightbulb in the workshop. I need that light to work, but the ceiling is too high for me.” 

“Can’t you use a ladder?” Doc retorted while Montagne made his way over to Twitch and stood beside her. 

“I tried, but I still can’t reach.” Twitch answered with an airy shrug as she started to tug Montagne towards the door. 

“What about Jäger? Or Mute?” Lion asked from where he still sat on the sofa. 

Twitch shot him a glare, but quickly corrected herself and gave him a smile. “They can’t reach it either. It’s really high up. The workshop’s ceiling is high, you know. I need the tallest person I can get.” She gave a sheepish, impatient laugh while she guided Montagne to the exit. 

“Alright...?” Lion answered, not really buying this either. 

“We’ll be right back!” Montagne called into the room before the door slammed close behind them, and Doc was left alone in the living room with Lion. 

Silence descended on the pair, in which Doc wondered if it would be a socially acceptable thing to do if he just vanished into the shower now and left Lion here to wait by himself. He was the one wanting to see Montagne anyway, wasn’t he? He wasn’t here for Doc. 

Because this was definitely... 

“I’m beginning to think they planned this...” Lion’s voice trailed off as he looked up at Doc from his place on the old sofa. 

_A setup._

Doc snorted and gave the other a dismissive look. “No shit Sherlock.” 

“That, or their acting skills are utter shit.” Lion shrugged and leaned back into the sofa, making himself comfortable. “Question is, why would they do this though?” Lion continued, putting his arms behind his head and popping his pink chewing gum as he so often did. Doc hated it. But he knew why Twitch and Montagne set this up, and decided to take this opportunity as it presented itself so easily to him. 

“Because I want to ask you something.” Doc said, keeping a watchful eye on the man on the sofa. 

Lion immediately sat up straight, throwing his gum into the bin next to the sofa and looking at Doc intently. “Oh? What’s that?” 

Fingers fumbling, leg fidgeting. Doc noticed Lion’s change in attitude immediately. “I want to know why you’re doing this.” He decided to be straightforward with this, although the question wasn’t exactly straightforward or clear. 

“This? They set this up, not me?” Lion answered, confused. 

“Not _this._ ” Doc corrected him impatiently, folding his arms and tapping his foot on the floor. “You know what I mean. Why do you not talk back to me anymore? Why are you not arguing with me anymore? Why do you let me swear the shit out of you?” 

Lion remained silent for a while as he was probably collecting his thoughts while Doc watched him like a hawk. No jokes now... Doc needed answers. “I just want us to be normal again, you know?” Lion looked up all of a sudden, giving the medic a weak smile. “I’m tired of our constant fighting and bitching. 

Slightly taken aback by this answer, Doc decided to bring up another fact in their broken history to get all the answers he wanted: “Then what about last week? At the pub? Were you trying to make things up with me?” 

Lion shook his head, smiling. “I just want peace. Is that a bad thing? Would you like to continue hating me?” 

“I-” Doc started, searching for words. “I just don’t understand.” 

Lion got up and approached the medic, but stopped 2 metres in front of him and kept his distance. “I’d just like us to start anew. And actually treat each other like colleagues. I suppose Ash was right, back there in New Mexico. Cooperation doesn’t work if there is a weak link.” 

“But-” Doc started, unsure of what was happening. Yes, he had been expecting this answer. He understood Lion, yet he couldn’t bring himself to agree with him. Was he ready to treat Lion as a colleague, rather than a piece of shit? Was he ready to let the memories go, to forget and to forgive? Could he do that? 

The sound of a door opening made Doc jump out of his thoughts, and he turned towards the sound in surprise. But it hadn’t been the entrance door, but one of the doors inside the quarters. The one leading to Rook’s room. The man stood in the living room now, looking rather sleepy as he had probably fallen asleep after stuffing himself over dinner. 

“Hey Gustave, didn’t hear you come in.” He said while he rubbed his eyes before he noticed Lion was in the room as well. “Oh, what’s this dipshit doing here?” He snickered, looking Lion up and down as if he was... 

Well, a piece of shit really. 

Doc bit his lip as he replayed Rook’s words in his head. He finally started to realise how unfair it was to treat someone like a piece of shit. Even if it was Lion. This wasn’t right. 

Turning away from the grinning Rook, who was waiting for Doc to join in to the teasing, Doc turned back towards Lion. The taller Frenchman’s jaw was set, his eyes hard as he glared at Rook, but his mouth was a thin line and he didn’t say anything back to the young Frenchman. Again, he allowed himself to be ridiculed. 

“Want to grab a coffee?” Doc blurted out. 

Rook was about to reply to Doc when he realised the medic wasn’t talking to him. He had asked Lion. 

Doc had asked Lion for a cup of coffee. 

What the fuck? 

Lion turned to Doc, momentarily surprised the question had been aimed at him as well before he recovered and gave Doc a short nod. “Uhh, yes?” 

Doc nodded towards the exit. “Let’s go, then.” 

Leaving a gaping Rook behind, the two of them set off towards the nearest coffee machine, which was placed a short walk away in one of the corridors leading to the sleeping quarters. They didn’t speak to each other as Doc made himself a cup of tea – he actually preferred to drink tea in the evening because he found he couldn’t sleep if he drank coffee – and Lion had a simple black coffee. The two Frenchman stood at the machine for a while, both facing the opposite wall and sipping at their hot drinks in silence. 

The silence they found themselves in wasn’t exactly uncomfortable, but rather awkward. Both parties didn’t seem to know what was next. 

In the end, Doc got tired of the silence and decided to speak up. “So, colleagues then?” 

Lion nodded vaguely, apparently lost in thought, before he recollected himself and gave Doc a sideways glance. “Or you know, we could be something else.” 

Doc snorted at that and he turned to look at the man next to him. A smug smile was playing on Lion’s lips, and by the arrogant look on his face Doc could tell there was nothing left of the nervous guy back in the GIGN quarters only moments ago. “I think colleagues is more than enough for the time being.” 

Shrugging, Lion looked away again. “Have it your way.” And after a moment of thinking, he added: “Didn’t you miss me?” 

The smugness dripped off his voice, and the overconfidence was readable on his face. But Doc didn’t bite. In fact, he didn’t actually know what to answer. He had hated and loathed Lion for years, even after they went separate ways. But he had to admit, although grudgingly, that he had missed the other’s company. Somewhere, in a dark corner of his mind, he had always wished they had been something more. 

It was funny, really, how both men had wanted their previous relationship to be something more, yet neither of them knew that about the other. Doc wondered if it was too late to try. If it was too late for a second chance for the both of them, for their frail relationship. A lot of forgiveness would be needed, let alone trust. 

“I sure missed you, even though you let me down.” Lion said, his voice trailing off although it had a sharp edge to it. 

“Let _you_ down?” Doc repeated, surprised. Surely he had been the one let down by Lion’s decision back in Africa? Because he lost his colleague? 

“I’d rather not talk about Africa anymore. I want that to be in the past, so that the two of us can continue to move forwards. But I do want you to know that me and my team, we had our backs against the wall out there, figuratively speaking. I made my call, and it was the best one I could’ve made in that situation. You’ve made me doubt it for months afterwards, but looking back on it now, I know I was right to make my decision. I had weighed all the options. This seemed the best. The risk of casualties was the smallest, yet sadly there were still some, among which your colleague... I never meant for that to happen.” Lion stopped for a moment, his expression and voice no longer smug but serious and grave, with a hint of deep sadness. 

Lion sounded broken, for the first time in their chaotic history. That was when Doc finally realised that maybe, Lion hadn’t been so reckless with the lives of innocent people back there as he had thought. He had cared for them. He had thought of them. He just didn’t show it emotionally. After all, Doc now thought, he had been the commander of his squad. Those kind of men couldn’t get too emotional in front of their soldiers. That was bad for their morale, but Doc had always deemed that inhuman. “You... cared?” Doc asked, his voice unsure. Back then he had been so buried in his grief for his colleague, that he never stopped to think how Lion felt about it. Better yet, he had always thought Lion hadn't _cared_ , but now he realised this was because he never fully explained what happened. They had never talked since the incident. Doc was starting to see their mistake now. 

“I was upset about the casualties. I really was. I just don’t show it like most people would. And I thought you knew that. I thought you knew me. I thought you’d have my back. But instead you called me out for that fateful decision. You got angry with me, in front of all the others. It wasn’t fair.” Lion continued, his voice rising slightly as old frustrations came boiling up again. Then he shook his head and calmed himself down. He even laughed at the absurdity of it all. He turned to face Doc. “I am sorry for the death of your colleague. These events have haunted my nightmares for years, I truthfully did not want them to happen. Because it put an end to what we had, and I regret that the most.” Lion concluded, the sincerity in his voice striking a chord inside Doc. 

“Olivier...” Doc started, but he didn't know what to say. This was a lot of information all at once, and he struggled to register it all. 

But after it all, it seemed Lion still wanted them to try again. And Doc was slowly coming round, too. 

“It's all in the past now, and I’ve learned to accept that you can’t change the past. All you can do, is look forward. Now I'm ready to forget my grudges against you. Are you ready to forget about yours and give me a second chance? Give _us_ a second chance?” Lion turned to look at Doc. 

Doc stared back at the man next to him. He was baffled, speechless. He hadn’t known – hadn't known that Lion had been affected by the deaths of those innocent people, had lived through hell knowing he had caused the death of Doc's colleague, and had been disappointed in Doc for not supporting him. Doc had always thought Lion lacked empathy after that situation. And that he had been the one who was right in this long-lasting argument. But he was starting to see things from a different perspective now. 

It was scary. 

Of course, he was still right. Lion had never apologised and for years the two of them had lived in hatred towards each other. It hadn't been fair on either of them. How different would it all have been if they had talked it out that same day instead of storming off in anger? He would never know. 

Beside Doc, Lion was growing restless with the continuing silence. Pushing himself away from the wall he had been resting against, he suddenly stood in front of Doc. The handsome features on his face were serious, a small frown making his forehead wrinkle up. He stared at the medic questioningly, waiting for an answer. Would Doc agree, or reject him? 

“So what’s it going to be, Gustave?” Lion asked, confronting Doc with the question he’d been avoiding for so long. 

Doc stared at him for a moment, stopping the train of thought that was currently rushing through his head. He sighed and broke their eye contact, looking away from Lion’s sad grey eyes. 

This was madness. But life was short and Doc was by nature a forgiving man. So before his overthinking could change his mind, he answered Lion truthfully: “I suppose we could try again.” He looked back at the taller man in front of him, who seemed to be cheered up at those words at once, and gave a small smile. 

The medic found himself smiling back, if only slightly. This could be a new beginning for them, and that thought sent a thrill through Doc's body he hadn’t felt in a long time.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lion's POV

Lion returned to his own quarters after his talk with Doc at the coffee machine, his hands in his pockets, shoulders relaxed, and he even allowed himself a small smile. 

Their talk had been a bit awkward and tense, but that was to be expected after the grudges they had held for each other for years. After all, it was the first serious talk they had had after they had separated. That seemed so long ago now, a time Lion was keen to forget. He had gotten his frustrations off his chest and had told Doc how he felt. And Doc had accepted them, his apologies as well as him. It was strange to think that the medic wouldn’t send him away anymore now. No more arguments. No more foul words. No more rejections. They had made peace, and Lion was determined to do his best for their starting friendship. 

He was determined to get Doc back, in a much larger sense than they had ever been. All in good time. 

Entering the quarters he shared with Finka, he found the Russian woman sitting on their small sofa, reading something on her tablet. The light of the device lit up her face, which showed a serious expression. She was biting the inside of her mouth, which Lion knew was a sign that she was worried, and her brows were knitted together. The screen seemed to have all of her attention, because she only noticed Lion when he was halfway into his own room, closing his door. He didn’t want to disturb her. 

“Olivier? Is that you?” She asked, finally looking up from her tablet. 

Lion appeared in his doorframe, leaning against it with his arm and grinning at Finka in a way of greeting. “Interesting story?” 

“Somewhat.” She shrugged as she glanced at her screen, which she had put on her lap now. “Sorry, I didn’t notice you coming in.” 

“S’alright.” Lion shrugged. “Shouldn’t you be with the Russians? With Tachanka?” He winked at her, as she had spoken of the big Russian often before. She was fascinated by him and even Lion could see something was blooming between them. 

Finally she smiled, if only a little. The worry fell off her face immediately at the mention of the other Spetsnaz operator. Then she returned her expression to neutral, as she often did, and answered: “They’re out. I didn’t come along because I wasn’t feeling well.” 

“Oh, what’s wrong? Are you alright?” Lion asked her, a hint of worry in his voice as he looked her over. She looked alright. 

“Yeah, don’t worry about me.” She waved him away and quickly changed subjects. “What about you? You seem happy, any luck with our doctor yet?” Finka gave him a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. Lion didn’t notice that small fact. 

The grin on his face grew again, which was enough for Finka. “We talked...” He said, rubbing his neck and wanting to make his partner curious. 

Finka rolled her eyes, knowing what he was up to but playing along anyway for the sake of him. “And...?” 

Clapping his hands together, Lion happily announced: “We made peace.” 

Finka gave him a big smile. “That’s great, Olivier! Congratulations! But honestly, did it really have to take this long?” She teased him, winking at him. 

“You know how he is.” Lion shrugged jokingly. 

“You’re not exactly the easiest person either.” Finka laughed at him, and if anyone else would’ve said that, Lion would’ve gotten angry with them. But Finka knew him, and he knew it to be true. He laughed along with her before he excused himself to go to bed. It was late, and tomorrow was Sunday so he had to get up early if he wanted to shower and look presentable before attending church. Finka’s mood seemed lifted as she wished him a good night. 

For the first time in months, Lion went to bed feeling truly and utterly happy. 

He and Doc would be alright. You’ll see. 

 

\-- 

The days crept by agonisingly slow as the White Masks laid low and remained quiet for weeks – although Six feared this was simply a silence before the storm – but it meant the operators had some room to breathe. People were less tense and stressed, and that definitely helped Lion’s situation. Doc was more relaxed than usual, although he spoke of his suspicion regarding the terrorists’ silence often. Still, Lion managed to have a comfortable conversation nearly every day – a goal he had set for himself. Their talks had started rather stiff, but as time went by and Doc became used to Lion’s presence again, the two of them became more relaxed in the other’s company. 

It was two weeks after they had made peace, and Lion walked into the communal living room. Music blasted into his ears via his headphones that were connected to his phone in his pocket via Bluetooth, and under his arm was a stack of magazines. He was bored, as he had done all of his paperwork and some training in the indoor gym. He rather trained outside, but it had been raining for several days now and it never seemed to stop. So Lion couldn't go outside for a run, and see if his little cat friend was still there. 

So right now he supposed he might as well kick back and relax with some of his favourite music, and instead of doing that in his own room as he usually did, he felt like sitting with the others in their living room. He wasn't planning on chatting to them; he just figured he should show his face a bit more. He felt more and more confident every day, and the reason for that was his slowly-growing friendship with Doc. 

Speaking of the man, Lion spotted him as he walked into the large room. He stood talking with the other GIGN operators at the coffee machine; Montagne, Rook and Twitch. The medic was facing him with his back so Lion just glanced at him for a moment before he averted his eyes and felt his face heat up. Doc was an attractive man, he wasn't going to lie about that, and seeing him in such a relaxed setting, smiling with his teammates, made Lion's heart flutter. He really wished to expand their friendship a bit further. 

Still, Lion walked past the group but not without greeting them with a small smile. Rook didn't notice him, but Twitch and Montagne did and they smiled back at him. Lion had already passed them when Doc turned around to see who his friends were smiling at, and the medic stared after him for a moment. Behind Lion's back, Montagne and Twitch exchanged a glance before they grinned at the staring Doc. 

Yes, the other GIGN operators had started to accept Lion too now that he and Doc had made peace. Montagne had always been a nice guy, but now the others started to show interest in him as well, and weren't as hostile as they were before anymore. Besides that, Doc was urging Lion to get on friendly terms with the other ops in the base, and that wasn't going nearly as bad as Lion had feared. He had made a bad first impression because he was still upset over the way Doc had treated him, but now that was all over Lion was ready to be his usual calm self again. And people around the base preferred this version of the new French operator. 

The other ops saw Doc didn't treat him as garbage anymore, and became curious about him. From time to time, the medic would join Lion in training, or sat here on one of the sofas of the living room with him. Apparently he had set an example, and so more and more operators approached Lion for a little chat. They found the Frenchman wasn't that much of an asshole as he pretended to be, and Lion found the others weren't as biased as he had originally thought. He still didn't have a good relationship with the British guys, but overall most people tolerated and accepted him now, and didn't whisper behind his back anymore. That alone was a win for Lion. 

Lion looked around and found several operators occupying the sofas. They were either chatting together, busy with their phones or reading a book or newspaper, all of them trapped inside like Lion found himself. Three of the Russian men were there as well, without Finka and Tachanka, which made Lion raise an eyebrow and smile to himself. He wondered what she was up to. In the meantime, Kapkan and Fuze were chatting together in their own language, while Glaz had all his attention on the sketchbook on his lap as he busied himself with another drawing. Lion admired his art, or at least what he had seen of it. The three of them looked up when Lion approached the sofas, and all greeted him or gave him a nod. 

His first encounter with the Russians in Truth or Consequences had been a rather bad one, but looking back on it Lion knew he had snapped at them because he had been extremely on edge after meeting Doc again. The Russian men had disliked him for a long time after they returned to Hereford Base, but once they saw he wasn't usually so bitchy, but rather calm and quiet, they accepted him more. It helped that Finka was a good friend of his, and over time the Russians had almost adopted him in their group. This meant that Lion wasn't alone as often as he used to, although he sometimes would prefer to sit and read in silence. 

Now Lion sat down in a vacant seat, not near any person in particular but not as far away from them as possible, like he used to do. 

Yes, Lion had finally started to feel at home at Hereford Base, and even tried to get along with some operators other than just Finka and Montagne. He wasn't exactly looking to make friends, but he found that getting to know the others wasn't as bad as he thought. The Germans turned out to be a friendly folk as well – although Lion still wasn't sure of this Bandit character – and he spent some time chatting with Blitz, training with IQ and working on projects with Jäger and some others in the workshop as well. Lion now found there were some interesting characters walking around this base, as well as friendly and helpful ones even though he had never bothered to even give them a second glance beforehand. How stupid he had been. 

Making himself comfortable, Lion grabbed one of his magazines and tapped his foot to the rhythm of the music absentmindedly. Getting some time off their exhausting job every once in a while wasn't so bad, even though Lion enjoyed the thrill of a mission. He was just reading an old article on the popular metal band Metallica when someone came to sit next to him. Lion briefly looked up from his magazine to greet the other person, but when he saw who it was he put his magazine away immediately. He removed his headphones and turned to the man who now sat next to him. 

“Hi Gustave, fancy seeing you here.” Lion greeted the medic, who didn't usually hang out in the living room often. 

“Olivier.” Doc nodded, a small smile playing on his lips that he was still a bit scared to show. “Enjoying your free time?” 

“I can’t say I mind it, no.” Lion admitted with a smile. “What about you? No more paperwork?” 

“All quiet.” The medic shrugged. 

“Must be really quiet then, if even you are out of work.” Lion commented with a chuckle. 

“Yes, but I still share Six’ worries... But what can we do about it? Not even our spies are coming back with reports on suspicious activities from the White Masks. It’s as if they’ve taken a holiday.” Doc shook his head, laughing at himself. 

Lion just smiled, not really listening to what the medic was saying but more enjoying the fact he was sitting next to him and chatting to him. He preferred this friendly Doc far much more than the abusive one of a few weeks ago. When he returned his attention to the man next to him, he found his dark eyes studying him, and for a moment Lion thought he could see a glint in his eyes that surprised him, but it was gone before he could be sure of it. 

“You’re not listening to me, are you?” Doc pretended to be offended. 

“Sorry, your presence here distracted me.” Lion answered smugly, grinning at the medic who seemed rather surprised at this remark at first but then quickly hid it. 

“Would you rather have me leave, then?” Doc remained cool and didn’t fall for Lion’s lazy attempt at flirting. He even made to get up. 

“Oh no, please don’t.” Lion immediately answered; afraid Doc would actually leave. He didn’t want him to, ever. Not now he had come so far that he actually attempted to _flirt_ with him. Because yes, he had had the cheekiness to try and charm the medic several times over the last few days, just like testing the waters. The friendliness of the medic lately was fuelling Lion's hope that they could become something, something more than they had been before. Doc hadn't pushed him away yet and Lion increased his flirting after every succesful attempt – although it couldn’t really be called successful if all Doc did was awkwardly change the subject, or blush, or look away, but the fact he was _allowing_ it made Lion feel confident. 

And he could see the effect it had on Doc, as much as the medic was trying to hide it. It was subtle, but Lion saw the faint blush on the dark skin of his cheeks, as well as the small wrinkles of worry that appeared on his forehead while he frowned ever so slightly. Fancy that, he was confusing Doc. Lion wondered silently if this was because Doc wasn't interested in him in terms of a relationship but he didnt want to turn him down just yet, or if Doc was afraid, or unsure, or merely confused at Lion's advances. He cheekily wondered how far he could push this without being turned down, or to see if he could maybe even make Doc fall for him. Yet he knew it was still too early. 

“Anyway, I have a favour to ask of you.” Doc turned serious again, changing the subject – as expected. 

“Yes?” Lion said, motioning for the other to continue. He quickly forgot about his train of thoughts as the question spiked his interest. What could Doc want of him? 

“I was in the workshop with Lera, your partner. We were working on her nanobots when she got a sudden call. She spoke in Russian for a while, and then just rushed out. I have no idea what to make of it, and it's not my business. But we were halfway through updating her device so I’d like to finish it, but she was the expert and God knows when she'll be back. So I’m looking for a technical mind to help me.” Doc explained, looking at Lion expectantly with his deep brown eyes. 

Lion swallowed. He realised Doc could have asked anyone for help; there were some operators who basically lived in the workshop, like Echo or Jäger, and they would've been more than willing to help their trusted medic. But he asked Lion. He almost felt honoured that the medic came to him, and wondered if there was a reason behind it. Maybe he just wanted to spend time together, perhaps he liked Lion's company more than he let on. Still, Lion didn't ask and grinned slightly before he simply answered: “Sure, lead the way.” 

Doc gave him a grateful smile before he got up and walked off, with Lion following close behind. They walked side by side, but their journey was quiet. Once they arrived at the workshop, Lion saw he had been right; there were several operators busying themselves in there. Lion saw Echo and Jäger, as expected, along with a few others. All of them friendly people who wouldve gladly helped Doc. Yet the medic came to ask for his help personally. It made Lion feel pretty smug. 

The place was void of any voices, and if there were any, they were hushed. Still, this didn't mean the workshop was quiet. In one corner, people were hammering away on some kind of project, and in the other the light buzz of electricity could be heard. Over in the securely sealed test rooms, faint explosions reached their ears. But all operators were concentrated on their own work, and barely anyone looked up when the two Frenchmen entered. 

On one of the desks was Finka’s device, open and with all kinds of wires sticking out. Doc sat down on one of the seats in front of the desk, and Lion took the other. In a hushed voice, like all the other operators around them, Doc started to explain the update he and Finka had been working on. From his explanation Lion gathered that Finka had been the mastermind behind this update, since he used the wrong terms and gave only a vague explanation. 

But Lion didn't mind. 

He was sitting in the workshop, a place he liked to visit too to work on his drone, right next to Doc who was leaning towards him in order for Lion to hear him. They were sitting close to each other, legs and shoulders brushing together slightly and Lion could faintly smell his cologne while he listened to his incomplete explanation. Their situation was making his heart beat slightly faster, but he tried to focus on this update for Finka’s nanobots. Doc had asked him for help personally, and he wasn’t going to let him down just because he was feeling a bit frisky because of their closeness. 

Unfortunately so. 

And so Lion set to work on realising the rest of the update on Finka’s nanobots, under the watchful eyes of Doc. He worked slowly and took his time, both because he wanted this work to be good, and because he liked how Doc sat so close to him and watched him intently. The medic made comments on his work from time to time, but they didn’t talk much and Lion mostly worked concentrated. Or at least, he tried. He was acutely aware of Doc’s presence, the closeness of his body next to him and the pleasant warmth he radiated. He felt the urge to turn to him and hold his hand, run his fingers through his hair, but he didn't. 

It had been so long since he had done any of that, and he was sure Doc wouldn't appreciate it. Lion wasn't surebif the medic would be interested in picking up where they left off, or better yet, if he wanted to become something more than that. Only time would tell, but in the meantime Lion figured he could at least try to get the man interested. Some minor flirting never did any harm, did it? 

“We should do this more often.” Lion spoke softly so only Doc could hear him. He kept his eyes on his work, but he could see Doc shift in his seat out of the corner of his eye. 

“I usually don't have time to sit around in the workshop all day.” Doc stated matter-of-factly. 

“But would you _want_ to?” Lion asked as he finished up on his work and turned to look at the man next to him, Finka’s updated nanobots momentarily forgotten on his desk. Doc seemed to think this question over for some time while he looked at him intently, his dark pools scanning Lion’s face and trying to find the hidden meaning behind his words. Because the question really was, _would you like to spend more time with me?_

“I suppose this isn't so bad...” Doc said vaguely, shrugging as he motioned around him. 

Lion shortly wondered if Doc was just pretending to not understand what he meant, but then he just agreed with him. The workshop was a nice, relaxed place where people cooperated to create the most wondrous things. It was probably much better than sitting on his own in his office and going through all of his paperwork. Lion laughed softly, and started to clear up the tools he had used. Doc got up from his seat as well and stretched his back and legs, unknowingly being watched by the taller Frenchman. Lion bit his lip and quickly averted his gaze when Doc turned to him again. 

“But sitting down on these damned seats is terrible for the muscles.” Doc complained. Again, Lion had to agree with him. The seats in the workshop did not provide any support and were rather hard and uncomfortable, but those who used them had all their concentration on their projects and did not notice such a minor discomfort. Doc was obviously used to some more comfort, with his large chair in his own office. 

An idea popped into Lion's head. He glanced out of the window to see it had stopped raining and the weak rays of the sun were actually filtering in through the clouds. How convenient. It had rained for days, and right at this moment it was dry. A perfect opportunity he just couldn't miss. “How about we go for a run outside to stretch those muscles? I’m sick and tired of sitting inside all day.” 

Like Doc, Lion stretched himself, making sure to subtly flex his muscles even though they were mostly hidden by his plain but tight shirt. He saw how Doc watched him before he averted his eyes - exactly how Lion had done - and weighed the suggestion in the privacy of his head. Lion could imagine what he was thinking. He imagined the medic thought he had spent enough time with Lion already, at least for today, and was thinking of the politest way of refusing the offer. Lion hoped he wouldn't, but he expected it. 

Lion gave up when Doc remained quiet for a little too long, and instead took to safely stowing Finka’s nanobots in her locker. He knew her code, just like she knew his because they often worked together. 

“I suppose we could.” Doc sighed, crossing his arms as he watched Lion close Finka’s locker. 

The taller Frenchman looked up, surprised, but grinning nonetheless. “Meet you outside in 10 minutes?” Lion offered. 

“Alright.” Doc nodded, trying to hide the smile forming on his face before he turned around and walked off to gather his things. Lion watched him go, a smirk spreading on his face before he too left the workshop to get changed. 

It seemed Doc wasn't sure if he should pursue his growing friendship with Lion. Lion thought that one part of the medic wanted to, while the other was reluctant and maybe still a bit suspicious and on guard. But that was fine. Lion would give him time and show him he could be trusted. 

10 minutes later he exited the building, wearing his sport outfit consisting of white shorts, a t-shirt and his running shoes. Doc was already waiting for him, wearing a similar set of clothes. The men greeted each other quietly and without any further talking, got going. It was late in the evening and Lion wanted to be finished and showered before the canteen would start serving dinner, because he was volunteering at the abbey tonight. 

They jogged around the whole base, sticking to the path that was laid around it next to the fence that separated them from the real world. Here the path was lined with grass, there were some trees that provided shade and at seemingly random places stood a forgotten bench on which no one ever really sat. The two French operators didn't talk, both deep in their own thoughts and listening to the monotonous sound of their feet hitting the pavement and their ragged breathing. 

Lion had almost forgotten about Doc's presence at his side when he spotted a small form crossing their path in the distance. He immediately knew what it was. 

It was the little cat he hadn't seen in days. 

Lion slowed to a trot as they approached it, smiling brightly at the small animal that meowed at him as if it were greeting him. Doc noticed Lion was slowing down his pace and when he noticed the cat on the path ahead of them, he slowed down too, looking a bit confused whether to go on or stop for this cat. 

Getting on his knees, Lion let the cat come to him and stroked it gently while it headbutted him, happy to see its friend. Doc stood a little distance away, panting and watching the scene. 

“Is that your cat?” Doc asked him, his voice unsure. Probably wasn't a cat person. 

“No, it just comes to visit sometimes. Haven't seen it in days, I wonder where it lives? The nearest housing estate is miles from here.” Lion wondered out loud as he scratched the cat behind the ears. The cat loved it, and purred loudly. When he looked up again to see if Doc was still there, he found the man had sat down on the nearest bench, and was watching him from there. His arms were crossed in front of his chest and his legs crossed as he rested, a mixture of mild annoyance, surprise and amusement on his face. 

“I didn't know a big lion could be so gentle with a little cat.” The medic commented. 

Lion grinned at him. “You'd be surprised.” 

It was evident on Doc's face that he had meant it as a joke, and absolutely not to give Lion ammunition to flirt. The taller Frenchman came over now and sat next to Doc on the bench. The cat followed immediately, hopping onto the bench and settling itself on Lion's lap. There it asked for more attention, and it continued to purr while Lion petted it gently. Doc eyed the small animal, as if hoping it wouldn't come to sit on his lap too. 

“What if it's a wild cat? With fleas?” Doc voiced his concern, shuffling along the bench and away from Lion without taking his eyes off the feline. 

Lion shrugged. “I don't think so. It's so well behaved.” 

Turning and looking away, Doc mumbled: “It's probably that Christianity of yours...” 

Bemused, Lion looked at the other, who sat at an awkward distance away from him. He subtly stretched his arms above his head and yawned before he laid it on the backrest behind Doc. “What about it?” Lion teased, giving the medic an innocent smirk. 

Doc looked out of place with Lion's arm draped over the rest behind him, and he awkwardly leaned forward with his elbows on his knees when he answered: “That you feel the need to take care of it. Must be that religion of yours.” 

“That's rich, coming from a person who’d probably even patch up the enemy if he could save his life that way.” Lion chuckled with the cat in his lap, that had now curled up and gone to sleep. Doc just snorted and remained silent. But he didn't leave. If he hated the cat so much, or had enough of Lion's presence, he was free to just continue their run on his own and return to the base. 

But he didn't. 

Doc stoically remained on the bench, hunched forward in order not to feel Lion's arm resting against his back and staring into the distance without saying a word, but he stayed. Lion scratched the peacefully sleeping cat softly now, a tender smile on his face. He shifted his gaze to the man next to him, watching him tenderly, too. What he wouldn't give to have him sleeping on his lap while he softly ran his fingers through his greying hair. 

A dream Lion hoped would soon come true. 

“I think I’m going to keep it.” Lion broke the silence, looking down at the cat again. 

“Are you mad? Animals are not allowed in the base.” Doc immediately replied, looking at him incredulously. 

Lion looked back at him, a sly smile on his face when he replied: “I don’t know, maybe I just want someone sleeping on my lap.” 

Doc’s eyes widened ever so slightly, a faint blush spreading over his cheeks as he opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of the water, unsure of how to reply to this. In the end the medic broke their eye contact and got up. “Let’s get back inside.” He said as he started to walk off. 

Gently shooing the cat off his lap, Lion continued to grin as he followed Doc down the last stretch back to the barracks. The medic was flustered, and Lion definitely on the right track.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are finally going the right way now c: Doc is still a bit slow, but luckily Lion is... convincing (x
> 
> The last scene was inspired by this adorable [ art by Sun](https://www.instagram.com/p/BxKx-EcloAx/) <3
> 
> Also, a little headsup: in less than 2 weeks I'm going on holiday, so chapter 10 will be uploaded later this week, and the last chapter will follow somewhere next week. I'm sure you don't mind c:


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Doc's POV

To say he was in conflict would be an understatement. 

On the one side, Doc was enjoying Lion’s company and their new, surprisingly easy-going friendship. 3 years ago he never would’ve guessed Lion could be good for anything other than sex. But now, a month after they made their peace, he found himself actively seeking out the other’s company from time to time. He found he enjoyed their talks, the company, and – strangely enough – Lion’s attractive, arrogant smile which he used to want to punch off his face. In the beginning he had tried to keep the contact with Lion at a minimum, as colleagues would do. But as time went by, he started to realise the taller Frenchman wasn’t as bad as he had made himself think. And from colleagues they had very quickly moved on to be acquaintances – all due to Lion’s willingness to be more, and admittedly Doc had let it happen. He liked the other’s company, and it wasn’t long until Doc had gotten used to Lion’s presence again and they hung out more often, up to the point where Doc realised with a shock they could probably be considered as friends. 

Doc saw how Lion appreciated it; how he brightened up when Doc approached him and chose his company over the others’. It gradually boosted his confidence in his popularity around the base, and on Doc’s advice he had begun to get to know the other operators. They took to him surprisingly well, especially the Russians – although that was probably Finka’s doing – and the Germans – although they were friendly with anyone and hard not to befriend when walking around the base for several months now. The medic enjoyed training and chatting together with the taller Frenchman more and more, but since a few weeks there had been a slight change in the way they behaved around each other. It was one teeny tiny factor that was making their friendship more difficult: 

Lion’s suave attempts at flirting. 

And this was the other side of their friendship, although Doc hadn’t made up his mind yet if this was as much of a bad thing as he tried to make himself believe. He was getting conflicting feelings about Lion flirting with him. At the start, Doc had just ignored Lion’s sly comments without actually rejecting him. He figured Lion was just playing around, but he should’ve known he wasn’t. Really he should’ve made up his mind right then, when it all started, but Doc was rather charmed by his compliments and flirtations, so he had never actually turned him down. This had apparently encouraged Lion, though, and now he was making more obvious attempts to charm Doc. Some sweet, some rather explicit. Yet Doc still didn’t bite, and more often than not he simply ignored him. 

But Lion’s advances were confusing Doc. He didn’t know what to do with them, if he should allow it, or reject him or maybe even play along with him. Is that what he wanted? In several months, Doc had gone from hating Lion to the bone to forgiving the other, agreeing to be colleagues, and then they had somehow taken some strange, slippery slide down to being friends. But it didn’t seem like they were at the end of the slide yet, and Doc wondered if he should get off it before it was too late. Question was, did he want to? Or did he want to explore some more? Lion was very open to him, showing how much he wanted to move on to the next stage. All the while Doc was pretending he didn’t see it. But he did, and his hands were starting to itch for him to either end this or play along. 

Whenever Lion’s flirtations started to flow into a more explicit direction, Doc tried to ignore him painstakingly and play dumb. He knew Lion noticed how flustered he would get at such times, which amused him greatly, to Doc’s exasperation. But his subtle courting reminded Doc more and more of what they used to be, and he found himself starting to muster a strange yearning feeling. He remembered long, hot nights in Paris, the feeling of heated skin on his own and the satisfaction of another body. He hadn’t missed it ever since the pair of them had split up 3 years ago now, since he was mentally scarred by the incident in Africa. For a long time, he hadn’t felt the need to get romantically close with another person and rather focused on his job. But now, as Lion made serious attempts at seducing him, it was hard to keep thinking straight. Memories he had been able to suppress successfully for years came bubbling to the surface again, clear as day and affecting his logical train of thought. 

Still, it had been a week after Lion’s last serious attempt when they had gone running outside the base and Lion had encountered his stray cat. The medic had felt extremely flustered at his remark, and even thinking back to it Doc bit his lip. In other news, he hadn’t seen the small feline that Lion wanted to keep inside the base, but he doubted the man hadn’t taken it inside to keep it has his pet. And his predictions would soon prove to be true. 

It was a Sunday morning, and Doc was reluctantly on his way to his office with a cup of steaming-hot coffee which he took from the canteen where he had just had his breakfast with Twitch and Rook. He had some unfinished paperwork that he really didn’t want to carry over to Monday, when there would be even more, so he figured he might as well start working on it soon and be done with it. But, as he entered his own office, he found it occupied by none other than Lion in his fancy Sunday clothes and his fine brown hair neatly combed backwards. Doc could only guess he had just returned from church. 

The younger Frenchman looked up from where he sat in Doc’s office chair behind the pc when Doc stepped inside his office. He flashed him a lazy smile as he chewed his chewing gum – which annoyed Doc to no limit and Lion knew this – and brought his index finger to his lips to tell Doc to keep quiet. Doc stared at him incredulously while he closed the door behind him and approached the other man, both annoyed at him for entering his office without his permission – he shouldn’t have told him where he kept the spare key – and curious as to why he was here and why Doc should remain silent. 

As he approached Lion, Doc saw what was going on: Lion’s little cat friend was in his lap. Doc eyed it with disgust. 

“What’s this bag of fleas doing in my office? This place needs to stay tidy and clean, and may I remind you that there are no animals allowed in this base? Especially not in this room.” Doc lectured the other operator, looking down at him sternly. But all Lion did was smile calmly and bring his finger to his lips again. 

“Shh, it’s sleeping.” He whispered before he flashed Doc a charming smile and blew his bubble gum. 

“You can’t be serious.” Doc exclaimed, but lowered his voice anyway. “And what are you doing here anyway?” 

Lion shrugged. “Just came back from the abbey. I was looking for you, but knowing you I reckoned you’d come to your office even on a Sunday. So I waited for you here. Workaholic.” He chuckled, apparently not realising that bringing the cat into Doc’s office wasn’t the smartest thing with regards to the cleanliness of the place. 

“I’m not-” Doc started to retort, but gave up and just sighed. No point arguing about it. He needed Lion to remove this cat. “It doesn’t matter. But why did you decide to bring the cat? It really can’t be here, Olivier.” He told the Frenchman who sat in his office chair, hand softly stroking the cat’s short fur. The medic was really trying to be patient with him, but Lion seemed to think this was all fun and games. 

“It came up to me as soon as I pulled into the parking lot. How could I ignore it? Look at it.” Lion explained, looking down at the cat on his lap fondly. Doc looked to, shaking his head disapprovingly. 

“Well anyway, you two have to go. I have work to do.” Doc made himself clear by taking a step forwards to his own chair, but Lion only looked up at him perplexed. 

“What? It’s sleeping!” Lion said in a hushed voice, looking up at Doc in surprise. 

Rubbing his face with his hand, the medic sighed. Such a typical thing for cat people to do: not wanting to wake the feline even if that meant they couldn’t get on with their work or chores. “Olivier, honestly...” 

“I can’t wake it now! I’ll just move over a bit and you just get another chair. The both of us can fit behind your desk.” Lion said as he rolled Doc’s chair out of the way, while staying seated and as still as he could so he wouldn’t disturb the little cat in his lap. The space he made for Doc was barely enough to fit another chair in, and not nearly enough to sit at his computer comfortably. 

“I really don’t think this is-” Doc started, but was interrupted by Lion. 

“Just pretend I’m not here.” The other said, shifting a bit in the chair so he could sit more comfortably before he closed his eyes. 

Doc let out an exaggerated sigh, and grudgingly pulled out another chair. The younger op was as stubborn as a mule, and he knew he couldn’t get him to move his ass another inch. So Doc squeezed himself in the chair as well as he could and moved his computer over to his side a bit, but really there wasn’t nearly enough space behind his desk for the two of them. 

Shaking his head, the medic started his pc and set to work. He opened the files he needed and typed away on his keyboard. After only a few minutes, though, Lion appeared to have fallen asleep – or at least pretended to be. Doc rolled his eyes at the other man even though he couldn’t see it and continued working, every now and then eyeing the cat on Lion’s lap next to him. It continued to sleep peacefully, not in the slightest disturbed by the medic fussing over his paperwork and lack of personal space. Doc tried to ignore it, and worked quietly for an hour. 

But, having kicked Lion’s feet several times underneath the desk and not being able to move freely in his chair because he would wake up both the cat _and_ Lion as a result now, Doc was getting frustrated. He let out a sigh, the umpteenth one that morning, and the cat opened its yellow eyes to stare at Doc with disinterest. Doc stared back at it in annoyance, and for a while the two held an silent staring contest. The cat won by far as Doc got annoyed at its calm, judging look and returned his attention to his screen. 

Though Lion sighing in his sleep had Doc looking back to his side after a few minutes of trying to concentrate on his work. The cat was softly treading on Lion’s jeans with its sharp claws and its tail moved slowly from side to side while it still stared at Doc, slightly more awake now. 

“What do you want.” Doc mouthed at it, making sure not to say it out loud in fear of waking up the other man. The lack of space was already bad enough with Lion sleeping, it’d only get worse if Lion were awake too. Snorting at the small animal, Doc returned his gaze to his screen and continued entering information into his computer. 

Just as he had his concentration back and thought he was making good progress, the cat distracted him again. Doc glanced sideways at it as it had begun purring softly, its eyes glued to Doc. The medic bit his lip. He thought he knew what the cat wanted from him now. Lion had stopped stroking it ages ago, and it wanted attention. And seeing as the other man was asleep, it had targeted Doc. The medic narrowed his eyes at the small feline and shook his head slowly. 

“No way.” He whispered at it, tearing his eyes away from its small, lazy face and once again concentrating on his work. Sadly though, it seemed like the cat wasn’t going let him get away with it. After he had typed only a few words it gave a short, quiet meow that made Lion shift in his sleep. Doc snapped his head back at the two next to him, but Lion was still asleep and the cat still staring at him. And even though the medic wasn’t a cat person and knew next to nothing of these animals, he was definitely sure it looked at him in a smug way. 

Doc realised the cat would just continue to pester him and as a result it would wake up the sleeping Lion, so Doc was out of options. He rolled his eyes and grumbled softly as he finally reached out his hand to pet it reluctantly. Giving it a pat on the head, the cat purred louder and closed its eyes, seemingly content with this result. But Doc, not wanting to spend more time with the ‘bag of fleas’ than necessary, soon retracted his hand and, thinking that he had satisfied it, returned his attention to his computer. 

He was wrong. 

The cat meowed again in protest not a minute after Doc’s hand had left its head, louder this time. The medic looked at it furiously, then at Lion to see if the man had woken up yet, but was glad when he found he hadn’t. 

“Fine.” Doc spit softly at the cat, and reached out again to pet it once more. The cat purred with satisfaction when Doc gave it another pat on the head. Sighing, Doc patted it for a little longer. The cat brushed its soft head against his hand and in turn Doc scratched it behind the ears, as he had seen Lion do before. Closing its eyes in pure bliss, the cat continued to purr and its sound calmed Doc down somewhat. Upon closer look now, Doc had to admit the cat probably wasn’t a stray; it was well-groomed and clean, and its fur soft to the touch. It enjoyed being petted and Doc in turn found petting reduced his stress and anger. It softened his heart, but he hoped Lion wouldn’t wake up and see him like this. Doc had told him very clearly that he didn’t like cats and he wasn’t ready to admit it now, even though he kind of liked stroking its soft fur. Maybe. 

And so the medic continued working on his computer, and every now and then he would reach out to give the cat a fuss again. He worked on like this for another hour, and even though he had found his concentration again and didn’t have time to look at the small feline next to him anymore, he still reached out and petted it blindly from time to time. The cat continued to purr, the sound amplifying whenever Doc’s hand reached over to stroke its small body. To Doc’s surprise he found he worked much more efficiently and focused like this, although he’d never admit that, of course. 

It was nearing lunchtime and Doc was nearly finished when his relaxed mood suddenly vanished completely, and again all because of this little cat. 

As Doc was scanning a document for any mistakes, his hand absentmindedly reached for the cat again. But instead of finding soft fur there at the fingertips of his hand, he felt some kind of fabric. Without his busy brains registering what this might mean, his hand probed around to find the soft touch of the cat. But all he felt was that same fabric. In a split second, realisation finally reached Doc’s brains. His eyes went wide and, now he wasn’t concentrating on the screen anymore, he found he didn’t hear the purr of the cat anymore either. It was faint, like it had gone into the background. 

Snapping his head in alarm to see where the cat was – or rather, to see what he was _touching_ – Doc found the cat gone. Instead, his hand had been feeling around Lion’s lap. His face heated up in an instant and he quickly retracted his hand, his eyes shooting up to Lion’s face. _Please let him still be asleep, please let him still be asleep..._

But Lion was awake, eyeing him curiously as a playful grin played on his lips. He chuckled. “You could’ve just asked, Gustave.” 

“What?” Doc was flustered, quickly going back to his paperwork and pretending he was very busy sorting out his files while in reality his face heated up more and more, like a bowl of water in the bright-hot sun. 

“You could’ve just asked if you wanted to touch me, no need to use the cat as an excuse, you know.” Lion purred, much like the cat had done. He smiled smugly when Doc faced him again, his head as red as a tomato. 

Averting his eyes again quickly, Doc’s eyes shot around the room in panic. The cat, the cat. Where was that wretched cat? He found it sitting a little distance away from the door, calmly licking its paw. It was as if it had been waiting for this, like it had been Lion’s own little wingman. Doc turned back to Lion angrily. “You pushed it off your lap so I would touch you.” The medic accused the taller man. 

“I wouldn’t.” Lion smiled smugly, and Doc didn’t believe a word of it. He was about to protest when Lion spoke up again: “But you’re free to continue, of course. I wouldn’t object.” 

If possible, the air around the two grew even tenser. Not the kind of tense like back in New Mexico, when both men had been ready to rip each other’s heart out. No, the air was heavy with anticipation, a sexual kind of tension, if you will. Doc couldn’t help himself when he dropped his gaze to Lion’s lap again, where his hand had been feeling around his crotch only a few minutes ago. His eyes snapped back up to look Lion into the face, although he didn’t know what to say. What was he supposed to say? 

When Doc remained quiet, Lion’s grin grew. “What’s that, Gustave, lost your tongue? I remember you differently on this particular... subject.” His voice dropped, and he had a daring look in his eyes as Doc wasn’t able to tear his eyes off his handsome face. 

Doc felt a chill go down his spine but he still said nothing, feeling the anticipation grow in his lower belly. He found himself frozen in his seat, unsure if he should play along with Lion or stop him right here. It had been a long, long time since Lion had talked to him in this tone, but it still had the effect it had always had. A desire rose within him to pull the younger man into a deep kiss, throw his arms around his broad shoulders and wrap his legs around his hips. Doc swallowed. He could still get out of this, if only he could find his voice to speak now. But the more he let this desire take over, the less he wanted to put a stop to this. 

Lion turned his chair to face Doc’s, and spun Doc’s around so his legs were in between Lion’s and they sat face to face, too close for comfort in the small space behind Doc’s desk. “I know you want to do it. You’ve been bearing with my flirting yet you still haven’t rejected me.” The taller Frenchman purred lowly, leaning in not to kiss Doc on the lips, but to continue speaking softly into his ear. Doc closed his eyes as he felt his hot breath and the closeness of his lips on his ear. “Don’t deny it. You want me...” Lion’s raw voice trailed off as he nibbled at Doc’s ear. 

The desire within Doc rose to a highpoint when Lion placed his hands on his thighs softly. He didn’t move them nor made any attempt to touch the medic inappropriately in case he didn’t want him to, but within Doc’s mind a storm was raging. Lion didn’t move his hands but moved his mouth from Doc’s earlobe to his jaw, placing feverish kisses and grazing his soft lips on Doc’s stubble. Lion gave the man time to think about his offer, but the tension within Doc made it hard to think. 

Without realising it, he must’ve been quite sexually frustrated for a while already, probably ever since Lion started flirting with him. Maybe that was why he had been feeling annoyed and extra snappy at everything lately. And now an outlet was offered to him; he was greedy to take it. Especially the way Lion worked his mouth already, sucking at the skin of his neck now, had Doc sighing and nearly giving in. Yet somewhere inside of his head, a voice in his head told him to slow down and properly think about what he wanted to be with Lion. If he allowed them to fuck again now, they’d never be more than what they were in the past. 

And he wanted Lion to be more than his personal fuck buddy. He wanted to build something more with him this time. 

But how to say no when you’re ready to go? 

Then the cat meowed. 

While it had cheated Doc before, it was now his saviour. Lion froze momentarily, apparently having forgotten the cat was still in the room with them, and it gave Doc the time to glance over to it. It meowed again at them, clawing at the door. It wanted to go out, probably needed food or its litter box, Doc didn’t care. He hastily got up and rushed to the door to let it out. The cat left immediately. 

Turning back around, Doc found Lion still sitting behind his desk. He looked at him perplexed; apparently having thought he had wound the medic around his finger. His eyes were still dilated, but Doc tore his eyes away from him and straightened his clothes. He shouldn’t get caught into that desire again now that he had broken the spell. 

Doc gave a soft cough before he addressed his friend again. “Olivier, I’m sorry... I need time. Give me time.” These weren’t the words he had chosen if he could think rationally, but he guessed they sufficed. He wasn’t able to think straight just yet. 

Lion looked away in disappointment for a minute, avoiding Doc’s gaze. Then he smiled, got up from his chair and approached the medic who still stood at the door, door handle still in hand. Not sure what his intention was, Doc’s brows knitted together in worry slightly as he watched the man come closer to him. 

But Lion stopped a short distance away from him and gave a grin. “Sure Gustave.” He said softly, his pupils having returned to a normal size and his voice even again. He placed his hand on Doc’s side and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek and before Doc even knew it, he had left his office. 

The medic watched him stride down the corridor, triumphantly even though he hadn’t gotten what he wanted. Although, perhaps Lion realised too that they should give it more time. Shaking his head and with a small chuckle, Doc watched him go as he absentmindedly touched his cheek where the taller man had kissed him. 

They’d be alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I added my favourite tag! I love sexual tension (x
> 
> Loosely inspired by [this](https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu-gRVOnSdM/) art by Sun c:
> 
> Last chapter will be up next week! Thank you for reading c:


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lion's POV – **Warning: sexual content**

In the days that followed their rather hot encounter in Doc's office, Lion kept his distance and respected that Doc needed time. 

He didn't stop his flirting, however, and he could see the effect it was having on the medic had changed. Doc got more and more flustered whenever Lion tried to charm him. The man would flush or bite his bottom lip and look away, as if he was trying to remind himself he had to think this over carefully and shouldn't just do what was on his mind. Lion even caught his eyes trailing down to his lips a few times when the two of them spoke in private, making Lion smirk. He never acted, though, because he was determined to give Doc all the time he needed. 

Because this time, it would be different. 

No rushing into things, no making love without feelings. Lion wanted Doc to be his partner in more than one way, and he wasn't going to mess it up this time. And so the two of them continued in their ways for a couple of days, until Lion visited Doc's office to hand over some documents that were due. 

It was a nice morning and there wasn't much on Lion's mind. As he strolled down the corridors of Hereford base, wondering what he should do today, he met Ash rushing down the other end of the corridor. He greeted her and she asked him if he could deliver some papers to Doc from Six for her. Not wanting to miss an opportunity to visit his favourite medic, Lion gladly accepted and took some of the work load from Ash’s shoulders. The American told him she was glad with his help, and for the first time since they met she looked at him with respect and gratefulness rather than loathsomeness. Lion was happy with this change. Most ops tolerated him now and he had made good friends with the other French operators, but also in the Spetsnaz as well as in GSG9. He was really starting to feel at home in the base, his sad feelings long forgotten. 

Lion took the documents from Ash and went on his way to the medic’s office, whistling a song that was stuck in his head. He hadn’t been in such a good mood in ages, and he really felt like a different wind had started to blow. It was only a matter of time now... 

And he would soon find out he was right. 

The medic looked up from his computer screen when Lion knocked and entered, and seeing the surprised look on his face, Lion just waved the papers at him to make it known he was only here for business. Not to try and kiss him again, sadly. They greeted each other and Lion simply placed the documents on Doc's desk, gave a short description on what they were and then turned to leave again. But Doc stopped him. 

“Olivier, please.” The medic blurted out, and when Lion turned around to look at him, he saw Doc's face flush slightly and his fingers still hovering over his keyboard. “Close the door, we need to talk.” 

“As you wish.” Lion could barely hold back his grin when he went to close the door, having a vague idea of what they needed to talk about. He leisurely sat himself down in the chair opposite of Doc's desk, the corner of his mouth twitching upwards as he looked at the man in front of him and waited for him to break the ice. 

It seemed like Doc had really thought this through, and when he finally started speaking, he chose his words carefully: “I want to talk about... us. Obviously a lot has happened over the last few weeks and I’m glad we’re on friendly terms again. I know you are too, what with your... _offer_ a week ago... And I think we should try again. Pick up were we left off – or at least a few days before the incident...” The medic spoke quickly, blurting out his words as if he couldn't wait to say them. “I think we should be more than we were then. No, I _want_ to be more than we were before” 

Lion sat more upright in his seat, having expected this but being pleasantly surprised anyway. Especially by Doc's eagerness to be with him again, because so far the medic had been reluctant to show it. He looked into his dark-brown eyes, ready to be lost in them again. “Yes?” He urged the other on, starting to feel butterflies in his stomach as if he was a foolish teenager again. 

Doc cleared his throat, looking away from Lion for a moment before looking up again. “I know I’m way too late when I say this, but I want you to be part of my life.” 

The two men stared at each other, the suspense hanging in the air as Lion’s heart skipped a beat and his head was spinning with happiness. “I would like that very much.” He finally replied, his mouth forming a big grin. 

The medic sighed in relief and returned the smile. “I’m glad.” 

Lion chuckled at Doc’s stiff, polite way of saying he wanted them to have a future together, and in an upwelling of emotions – or just call it cheekiness – he decided to show him that in this case, actions speak louder than words. He raised himself from his seat, hands planted on Doc’s desk as he leaned over it to bring his face closer to the medic’s and to capture his lips. Doc only looked mildly surprised by Lion’s bold actions and after a short moment, it was the medic who bridged the last few inches that were left between their lips. 

They met, and to Lion it felt like coming home. Doc was just as warm and soft as he remembered. It had been a long time since they last kissed, and feeling Doc’s familiar lips on his own again now sent a surge of euphoria through Lion’s body that made him forget about his uncomfortable position, bent over Doc’s desk and towering over him, the screen of Doc’s computer digging into his chest. It all didn’t matter to him, happy as he was that his relationship with Doc was back to where it was, and had even improved. It was more than he could have ever hoped for. Maybe being placed in Team Rainbow and meeting Doc again in New Mexico hadn’t been as bad as he had thought for months. How naïve they had both been back then. 

After a while, Doc pulled him closer and deepened the kiss while Lion was still bent over the desk uncomfortably and Doc sat on the edge of his seat. He didn't complain though, and instead sought entrance into Doc's mouth with his tongue. The medic soon granted it, letting out a soft groan into Lion's open mouth. 

How he had missed this. The way Doc softly held the back of his neck to make sure he wouldn't break the kiss, his soft lips, the way his mouth moved against his own while his tongue battled Lion's for dominance. The kiss turned hot and wet very quickly, at which point Lion was so aroused – not having had this in too many years – that his uncomfortable position started to annoy him. He wanted to feel Doc's body with his own, be chest to chest with him and feel his strong body under his hands. 

Lion broke the kiss, at which Doc audibly protested. But Lion needed to get closer. When he got some distance from the medic and his muscles were relieved from his uncomfortable position, he saw how messed up the medic was: lips already swollen, a deep red flush on his cheeks and his pupils dilated. Lion smirked as he enjoyed the sight for a moment, intensely glad he could still bring the usually so serious and collected man to this stage. While Doc patiently – and maybe even somewhat nervously – waited for what else Lion had up his sleeve, he watched as the taller man came around his desk. 

The medic got up as Lion approached him, eager and breathing hard, staring at him with his full-blown eyes, curious, ready. They crashed their mouths together again as soon as they were close to each other, picking up where they left off only a minute ago. Doc wrapped his arms around Lion, willing him even closer, and the taller man placed his hands on the medic’s hips while they shared a hot, open-mouthed kiss. 

Deprived and starved of this for years, they took all they could now. Doc’s big office chair was pushed aside as they got a little rougher behind the desk, hands fumbling for a touch of skin and the quiet sound of ragged breaths filling the room. In the end Lion managed to get the upper hand, pushing the medic against the wall behind the desk. They finally broke apart in order to catch their breath; their faces mere inches apart as Doc was pinned into the wall and Lion stood flush to him, with barely enough space for the rising and falling of their chests. Lion could feel Doc’s warm breath ghost over his skin, but he could feel his obvious arousal even more down where their crotches were pressed together. 

Improvisingly, Lion grinded his own clothed member against the medic’s, earning a groan Doc barely failed to swallow. Lion could see he was embarrassed by it, but his dark eyes refused to give up their staring contest. 

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Lion purred teasingly as he repeated the motion with his hips. 

This time, Doc was able to control his groan and simply grunted at the much-needed friction. “If you know what’s good for you, you stop talking now and get on with it.” He said through clenched teeth. Doc had always claimed he didn’t like it when Lion worked him up and made him desperate for release, but Lion also knew that was a big fat lie. 

Still, the taller Frenchman chuckled and decided that he too wanted to get on with it. It had been so long, and he could already feel he wouldn’t be able to last long. At least, not as long as he used to. It’d be a while before he had built up that stamina again, but he was sure Doc would let him practise whenever he wanted. That thought brought a smirk to his face that Doc eyed unsurely, but Lion decided Doc was right and he should keep his mouth shut. They would discuss it later. 

Right now, having caught their breaths, the two started making out again while clumsily removing their clothing. Frustratingly, they had to break their kiss in order to remove their shirts, but within a few feverish minutes they had nearly finished tearing each other's clothes off. All that was left on their bodies now, was their underwear, and Lion caught the medic eyeing the tent in boxers hungrily, a wet patch of precum staining the fabric. 

Oh, he’d missed this just as much as Lion had. He’d just been too stoic to admit it. 

“Like what you see?” Lion couldn’t help himself as he gave the flustered man a smug grin. 

“I’d rather see it off, to be honest.” Doc countered huskily. 

Lion's grin only grew. “Right away sir. But you first.” He said quickly before he hooked his fingers under the hem of Doc's boxers and lowered them. The medic uttered a gasp in surprise, his rock-hard member being freed from the tight confinements of his underwear. Without even bothering to take Doc's boxers fully off, Lion wrapped his hand around his shaft. Just to feel it again, the familiar warmth, shape, flesh... It resulted in another gasp from Doc, followed by a low groan. As Lion slowly started pumping his length and Doc grabbed his shoulders for purchase, Lion's other hand snaked around his backside to grab a handful of his plump ass. 

Doc was left utterly breathless, his dick leaking precum in Lion's hand, his cheeks being teased and all his muscles tense – and then the taller man started attacking his neck with his mouth as well, just like he had done in this same spot a week ago. Doc let out a shuddering breath, followed by a groan deep down his throat. He had lived through years without this, and now he had it again. All of it. He was the centre of Lion's attention. 

Making sure he left enough hickeys and bruises on Doc's neck, shoulder and collar bone to remember this moment in the upcoming days, Lion was making a mess of the medic. His hand slid up and down Doc's member fast now, being aided by the precum dripping from the head. He swapped hands so that he could use the hand that was covered in precum to part Doc's cheeks and play with his hole. His clean hand soon picked up the pace on his dick to make sure Doc wouldn't notice the finger prying open his ass so much. 

Doc groaned as he was being stretched, especially when the taller man started to scissor his hole with two fingers. But he could take it. He could take all of Lion. They had done it countless of times before, he just needed to adjust to it again. It had been so long... Too long. Doc captured Lion's lips with his own again, all teeth and tongue as his own hands reached for the bulge in Lion's boxers. He cupped it, massaging his balls and kneading his shaft through the fabric. Now it was Lion's turn to groan, as he had neglected his aching member in favour of pleasuring the medic. 

“Fuck, you’re so tight...” Lion groaned in between kisses. “I don't remember you like this anymore...” He fingered Doc earnestly now, his fingers slipping in and out of his hole rapidly. 

“We have a lot to catch up...” Doc replied breathlessly, his voice husky as Lion's fingers were working their magic and he was getting close. 

Lion only groaned in response and doubled his efforts at that, definitely looking forward to indulge in more meetings like this. He stroked the medic’s shaft harder while his fingers brushed against Doc's prostate several times. It had the medic groaning into his mouth, the hand that was still on his shoulder holding on tightly while the hand between his legs now yanked Lion's boxers down as well. Lion growled at the feeling of being released, bucking his now bare hips into Doc as their pulsing shafts met. 

It was enough to tip Doc over the edge and he came, spilling himself all over his own and Lion's stomach. His body shook and he breathed heavily, his eyes closed as the euphoria washed over him. Lion regarded him like that for a moment, drinking in the image of Doc naked in his office, cum rolling down his muscled stomach in large beads. 

He was his again, Lion thought. And now he was going to _make_ him his. 

When Doc had caught his breath and came down from his high, the dark look in his eyes had all but faded. His eyes trailed down Lion's naked body, past his own cum that adorned his strong abdomen down to his crotch, where his dick throbbed and ached for release. He bit his lip – a sight that had always made Lion want to bury himself deep inside of the medic – before he looked up into his handsome face again. 

“There’s lube in my drawer.” He told Lion subtly before he pecked his lips again. 

Lion grinned, kissing him back and licking the medic’s lips. Doc immediately allowed his tongue inside of his mouth again, and the kiss was about to turn into another make out session – one Lion knew he wouldn't last – when Doc broke their kiss and looked at him intently. 

“Now get on with it.” The medic ordered, and it was all Lion needed to hear. He roughly turned Doc around and bent him over his own desk, making him spread his legs so he had the most amazing view of his ass. Sticking in the air proudly, plump and already a bit sore from Lion's relentless fingering. And it’d only get worse... Rummaging through his darned drawers until he had found the bottle of lube, Lion quickly squirted some on his shaft and spread it all over, careful not to touch himself too much lest he came before the real fun had even started. 

Lion aligned his now pulsing cock with Doc's hole, that looked so inviting that Lion had to use all of his willpower to not slam into him and chase his release. He held the medic’s hips to keep him in place, the head of his dick teasing the medic and giving him notice of what was about to come. Then he pushed inside in one long, slow movement. 

Doc groaned through gritted teeth as his hole accommodated him as best as he could, his hands gripping the edge of his desk. Lion bit his lip at the feeling of being surrounded by Doc's walls, the warmth of them so familiar and perfect. He made sure the both of them were comfortable before he started to move, slow at first but gradually picking up the pace. 

Closing his eyes, Lion quickly lost himself into the feeling. It had been a long time, but it was just as good as it had always been. No – maybe even better, because they were partners now, instead of just fuck buddies. They were more, and that made this all the sweeter. Lion relished in his thrusts, which were shallow at first but grew more and more powerful as the old exciting feeling started to blossom in his lower belly. He drunk in the sound of skin slapping against skin, Doc’s strained groans as his cock rocked in and out, in and out and their mixed breathing echoing through the office. 

Lion opened his eyes to admire the scene before him, Doc bent over his desk, his cheeks red from Lion's gripping and his perfectly tanned, toned back taking Lion's thrusts. The taller man ran his hands along his soft skin, feeling every bump and scar and making the medic below him shiver. This was so good, so fucking good and Lion was starting to lose his self control. His thrusts became furious, his lust clouding his mind and vision. All he knew was Doc and his perfect body, and his dick that was buried deep inside of him at the moment. How was he so lucky? 

Doc's groans turned louder too, more frantic as Lion slammed inside of him, balls slapping against his thigh. The medic was mumbling things, encouraging Lion on and barking heated orders. Faster. Deeper. Don't stop. The taller man didn't hear the exact words, but he was spurred on until he was pounding into the medic’s ass without mercy, chasing his sweet release. 

He got it soon after that, cumming deep inside and filling the man below him with his seed. He bent his own sweaty body over Doc's and rested on him, his chest heaving. He lazily placed some fluttering kisses on the medic’s shoulder as they both relished in this feeling of pure bliss, and when it washed over him Lion knew only one thing: that had been the best orgasm in his life. 

After what seemed like an eternity of intimacy, in which the both of them remained in place and tried to catch their breaths, Lion finally pulled out. Doc's office wasn't shy of tissues, obviously, so he did his best to clean the both of them up before Doc sat down on his now sore ass, his legs no longer able to support him. Lion found Doc had cummed a second time, as sticky white fluid dripped from the underside of his desk. It made the taller Frenchman chuckle, and as he turned to look at the medic, he found him sitting in his office chair with half-lidded eyes and a tired smile on his face. Lion returned it with a grin. 

They didn't say anything anymore. They just shared a sweet, slow-paced kiss and finally started to get dressed. 

 

\-- 

“Shouldn’t you be going?” Doc asked him, looking over at him sternly from where he sat behind his computer screen. 

It was Wednesday evening, and the medic was working late in his office while Lion kept him company with the cat he now took inside whenever he saw it strolling around the grounds of Hereford Base. He had even affectionately called it ‘Ghost’, because it followed him anywhere and he had found out it was a male cat. Doc had been against it at first, but eventually even he had fallen for the softness of the feline. So now Lion brought Ghost to see the medic whenever he could. They didn’t actually talk much during these sessions; it was just Doc working, the cat being fussed by either Lion or Doc – who claimed the cat’s presence improved his productivity – and the man himself kicking his feet up and relaxing completely for once. 

Since the last time Lion had visited Doc's office to ‘bring Six’s documents to him’ a week ago, he had come to Doc’s office more frequently. They didn't always engage in sexual actions, like they used to, but simply spent time together. Lion just sat there to keep Doc company and play with the cat while the medic tapped away on his keyboard, but Lion was extremely content with that. Right now, he was seated in the patient’s chair opposite of the medic with the small cat asleep on his lap and he stroked its fur softly. Lion was happy and at peace whenever he was in Doc’s presence, just listening to the rapping of keys and Ghost’s purring. It was such a difference from how he used to feel near the medic, and he was definitely happy with the turn of events lately. 

“I suppose I should.” Lion shrugged, even though he didn’t really want to go now. There was a service on in the abbey tonight and he had been determined to go, but he didn’t really feel like it now anymore. Ghost was like a warm radiator on his lap, and Lion didn’t really fancy going out as he heard the rain clatter against the window of Doc’s office. He’d get soaking wet the moment he’d set a foot outside. Besides, he just loved to sit here with Doc and have him all to himself. Even though the medic was busy and they didn’t talk, these moments were extremely precious to Lion. 

When Doc saw him hesitate, he called Ghost over. The cat looked up at once, awoken from its sleep and got up to trot over to the medic happily. It jumped up on Doc’s lap and purred while he fussed it. “There you go.” Doc grinned at Lion, knowing the man hated waking Ghost in order to get up. 

“You can’t just steal him!” Lion pouted like a child, watching Ghost get comfortable on Doc’s lap. How he’d like to sit there too. 

“You should go.” Doc pointed his pen at him. 

“Fine...” Lion got up with a sigh, not looking forward to leave Doc’s cosy, warm office and go out into the rain. When he got to the door, he took his coat and turned around. “Goodnight, Gustave.” Lion said as he opened the door. 

“Goodnight, Olivier.” Doc nodded at him, right when lightning outside lit up his room through the window. Both men stared at the window for a moment, then the sound of thunder could be heard in the distance. Doc turned back to face the other man in his office. “And be careful.” He added. 

Lion smiled gently at this. “Don’t worry.” 

 

\-- 

Despite the foreboding weather, despite his leaking car, and despite the fact he got soaking wet when he covered the distance from his small Corsa to the gates of the abbey, Lion was still smiling when the service began. He got up with the rest of the people when the priest started the mass, shivering a bit as he was cold, but he didn’t mind it. Not the dark, not the dreary weather, not the fact that he was wet and cold. Lion was happy. And that was all because of one man. 

Not even the melancholic singing voices of the monks could get him down this time. Lion continued to smile to himself, not quite listening to what was being said, but just enjoying the way he felt now. This was happiness. When the moment came for the people to say their silent prayers, Lion folded his hands together and closed his eyes. He thanked God for granting him happiness, swore he’d work hard to protect it and then quietly prayed for the people who couldn’t feel this happiness due to various reasons. He prayed that they, too, could one day feel this. Everyone deserved it, he concluded. 

Right then, Lion decided to start writing to his son Alexis again. He probably couldn’t expect his ex-girlfriend to want to get back in touch, but he supposed he could at least write to the boy. He had dropped in and out of their life ever since the kid was born, not really knowing if he was wanted or not. But he now realised the boy was his child, and Lion was ready to be his friend. He couldn't be his dad, or even a father figure. Claire wouldn't allow it. But perhaps he and his son could be friends, if Lion explained it all. 

He’d like that very much. 

The service continued, but Lion wasn't really paying attention anymore. He was just so happy, and eager to start better his life. One step at a time. 

After the service, as Lion was warming up his hands with a cup of coffee in his hands and a few people stayed behind to chat a bit, he was approached by brother Benjamin. Lion smiled at the elderly man in the simple brown robes as he realised the change in his life had started all because of the advice given by this man several months ago. Lion greeted him politely. 

“Good evening Olivier, how are you?” Brother Ben asked, taking a cup of tea from the lady behind the table and guiding Lion away from the others so they could talk in private. 

“Very good, thank you brother.” Lion nodded, sipping his tea. 

“I can see that, it’s radiating off of you somehow.” Brother Benjamin commented as he looked Lion over, a gentle smile on his face. Lion smiled back at him, but said nothing. Brother Benjamin didn’t need to know the reason for his happiness, and neither did the monk ask for it. He was simply glad to see Lion was happy. 

“Thank you, brother.” Lion said sincerely, not so much meaning the compliment but rather thanking him for _everything_. 

Brother Benjamin put his hand on Lion’s shoulder. “I’m happy life is good to you, my son. Good things come to those who wait.” 

It took all of Lion’s willpower not to bring the old man into a hug. He was just so happy, and the brother’s words hit home hard. All this time he had survived in the dark, and now it finally appeared that things were looking up for him with Doc. So instead, he smiled at Ben. “This place has been a safe haven to me. Thanks to you, brother, and the other monks. From the moment I set foot in here, I was accepted and I felt like home. This place has definitely helped me through some rough times.” 

“And you’re welcome here at any time, my son.” Brother Benjamin reassured him, patting his shoulder with that gentle smile of his. 

Lion smiled back brightly. The two of them talked a bit more while they finished their hot drinks before Lion set off in the rain again, back to Hereford Base in his leaking Vauxhall, but a smile on his face nonetheless. 

All was well again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now this story has come to an end! I will definitely miss these two ;w;
> 
> Thank you for staying with me on this journey. I had a lot of fun writing this fic, and I'd like to thank each and everyone of you for reading, leaving a comment and/or giving kudos. It means a lot to me and I appreciate it a lot! <3
> 
> Secondly I'd like to thank Sun for the request of writing Doclion and giving me this opportunity. I named the cat in the story Ghost, because Sun owns other cats named after the epic MW2 characters so now she has Ghost as well, figuratively speaking (x I'd also like to give a huge thank-you to Betti for supporting me all the time and being my wonderful beta reader! This story would've sucked without her great help <3
> 
> As for any next projects, I have ideas but nothing planned. I need a break from writing but I do hope I'll be back c: Follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/hetsez) to see what I'm up to!


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